City of God (Ciudad de Dios)
by amosclw
Summary: All of you know the story. All of you know the tragic tale. Just when everyone thought that just like always that was the end of it, like always. However, fate had decided that enough was enough and called the aid of a supernatural being from another world to not only help the characters defeat the one responsible for the occurred tragedies but also end the cycle once and for all.
1. Author's notes and story premise

Now before we start, i just want to tell any and all readers that this story is actually written by one of my friends on Deviantart, iledesaint. I just copied and pasted chapters of his story onto the site so that more people could read this story in a more fitting website along with modifying several of these chapters such as changing the format to be more easy to read as well as correcting any spelling or grammatical errors. I highly recommend that you go to his Deviantart page where the story was originally posted.

Also, be sure to favorite this story, post a review and follow this story and me. Also most of the characters that are not OCs belong to their respective owners.

Devilman Crybaby and all associated characters belong to Go Nagai and all of his associates. Ghost Rider and all associated characters belong to MARVEL comics. The only characters we own are our own OCs.

Also, one thing to say about the two Ghost Rider movies starring Nicholas Cage.

The first movie, Ghost Rider (2007) is fine and is really not that bad. Just unintentionally silly and very underwhelming.

The second movie, Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance (2012), is a HUGE frickin piece of CRAP ! A lot of good ideas but all of them executed very poorly which shows that the movie makers did not give any thought when creating the movie or worse, did not even bother to refer to the source material.

Also, one thing to say. If you haven't watched the Devilman Crybaby series yet, then here is a caution for any and all of you readers as there will be major spoilers regarding the series. If you don't wanna be spoiled then i highly recommend taking watching the series first. If not, then hope you enjoy reading the story.

With all of that said, let's start.

Our story takes place not in the Devilman Crybaby version of Earth as this story takes place after the series' tragic end. Just when we thought that was the end of it like always, fate had decided that enough was enough and so a supernatural being from another world had answered the call of suffering made by the spirits of the innocent humans who had their lives taken away without mercy. He decided that to end the cycle of tragedy and suffering that has been plaguing the Devilman Crybaby version of Earth, he used his powers to bestow most of the perished innocents with the powers of a spirit of vengeance.

Thus, this is a new and never before seen original story. One where the fated cycle of tragedy and loss will come to a permanent and happy end once and for all.

Now, as the Ghost Rider would say, "LET'S RIDE !" *Motorcycle engine revving up before making sounds to indicate that motorcycle is leaving the area.*


	2. Prologue

Prologue

The dead are alive. As what the crazy ones say. For me, that talk is just pure bullshit although, they are not half wrong about that statement. The dead are alive but the ghosts that walk amongst us are simply not there to speak, scream, laugh, cry, or any other emotions we can build on of. What is the point in all this? There is absolutely nothing that cannot change this situation, this climate of despair, this cancer amongst us. However, if one manages to pull out their tumor, despite all problems and ethics within in, then the one who do so dies as well. It might as well follow history. The rambling of man and its problems does not seem to help nor is sputtering out gibberish talk about our political climate. Well, my climate to be exact.

The climate above Mexico City is thickening. If one were a bird, the brown smog would be seen for kilometers beyond its official border. The valley of smoke is as imagined to be a cancerous as drugs. They are killers and full of shit. The thick brown smog in the atmosphere seems to be a killer amongst the rich and the poor. Notice I did not say the middle class, because they are eradicated. Wiped out. Disposed. Purged to be exact. The PRI has left the political spectrum and its power at the turn of the new millennium, 2000. However, it was all a big disappointment. Nothing and no one will change a goddamn thing in this land and the future is already grim. Is God really there? Or is he testing us to see if our patience can last so we can see the "pearly gates" or endless amounts of pussy and ass and alcohol forever when we die. I do not know but I can say this: the city of God has finally succumbed to Satan. And that's where this finally ends.

I heard glimmers of hope surrounding the globe and killing those who were evil and I am safe to say that something has finally happened in Mexico for the better. The cartels and the corrupt officials in all powers within the government are finally scared. I am so happy that this is the first time I ever felt some kind of emotion that is not related to death, sadness, or disillusionment.

Instead of quivering in fear for years and years, this time I need the courage and confidence to ask for help. Beyond my allies and acquaintances in the FBI and some neighbors up north, there is one person who can actually help along with her allies. Onryo Runner as they call her in fear. Twenty days of searching has finally ended and I am glad that help is arriving. Dear God, please give me the strength that i need in this situation.


	3. Ghost Rider: Character Profile

Ghost Rider

Real name: Johnny Blaze

Nickname: The Spirit of Vengeance

Debuted at Marvel Comics in the 1970s, his debut ushered in Marvel Comics' age of the antiheroes.

Backstory:

Unlike the majority of superheroes who appeared in the comics at the time, Johnny Blaze was a motorcycle stuntman who made a deal with the devil aka Mephisto, the ruler of hell.

One fateful day, after the deal between Blaze and Mephisto was completed, an act made Mephisto felt that Johnny had cheated him. So to punish him, Mephisto had bonded Johnny's soul with the soul of a demon named Zarathos which resulted in his horrifying skeletal appearance and terrifying variety of powers.

Thus, Johnny became the Ghost Rider. The legendary spirit of vengeance, forever cursed to scour the entire human world. His task. Punishing the wicked humans and deporting any loose demons back to hell.

Abilites and skills:

Superhuman strength, durability, stamina and agility. He has a superhuman regenerative healing factor that enables him to heal from any and all injuries regardless of how critical.

Johnny Blaze is able to feel the transgression of any individual that he encounters by looking into their heart and soul. He can also decide whether or not a person is innocent or evil and in need of punishment. He is also capable of doing this ability in his human form.

Ghost Rider possesses the ability to generate, control, and project mystical fire, or "hellfire" at will. Hellfire is the legendary hot burning fire that exists in Hell. It is capable of not only burning physical bodies but can also burn souls as well.

But arguably, the most famous attack is his strongest and most powerful signature technique. The Penance Stare.

By forcing an evil individual who the Rider deems as guilty to lock eye contact with him and the Rider mentally focusing his powers while staring into the unfortunate victim's eyes, the unfortunate victim can see and feel every bit of pain they have ever inflicted on anyone in their entire lifetime for all eternity.


	4. Reawakening

Chapter 1

"Identification, please." I handed my card to him and he gives it back to me without looking at my card. "OK go."

I am glad that I do not have to physically spit on his face every time I come here. When was the last turn I been out of the country? Months? Years? Whatever and I don't care. Driving in my black Toyota sedan, I have personally cleaned it myself. Before, I never bothered to clean because I do not need to. As an Uber driver, there were some kinds of activities and spots to clean: blood stains, the smelly odor from midnight sex acts, crumpled up napkins, papers, and cigarette butts. All were part of me. I never had the confidence to look at myself in the mirror and say "Fuck you, you're a loser." Now, I have cleaned myself up. Thanks to her, I can safely say that I am a loser that needs some help instead of drinking and wasting my hours of life on the Internet watching pointless YouTube videos and hentai.

I found a parking space by the entrance for Volaris. She should be out now. She could have used her own powers to pop up at my place but I did not want her to do that, for it would raise suspicion in my apartment tower. I see her by the curb wearing her pink headband, and her eyes were vermilion red, not glowing. Her skin was pure white with some hints of blue. Her scars are quite visible for everyone to see, but she does not care. Her belt buckle had a skull on it, so I knew it was her. Go figure. She wore a slim back dress, very punkish style of clothing, which I liked. Her boots with sharp cleats are a distinct part of her as well. I hope she doesn't stab my car mat with her cleats. She did not bring any luggage, so I think I may need to buy her one just in case for the future.

"Señora Makimura, I presume?"

"Yes."

"Please come in." She gets into my car and magically pulls out a metal chain whip. "So how do you change yourself?"

"I rather not talk about it."

"OK. Anyway, welcome to Mexico City, the heart and soul of the beating and breathing Mexico." She looked out at the window and asked me, "So, how did you see justice out here?"

"That depends. Let me give you a history lesson. The only time justice came about was the Mexican Revolution the 1900s. The poor has risen up against its overlords and took over the country but ruled like the despotic rulers before. So justice has not come here. The courts here useless and gang violence and corruption are rampant here. While the Americans venerate their dead, we simply disregard our heroes. Human instinct takes the wheel and lynches those who betray us. For me, I am like you, almost. Sometimes, to prove a point I behead head from a corpse to send a message to everyone, even in my team."

"So what has changed here?"

"Not much before but because of you, your boyfriend, and your friends things started to change for the better. News reports of you guys' actions around the world have helped to alleviate some evilness in this world. Look, your American friend, Ghost Rider, resurrected you and you resurrected innocents. That is quite astonishing! The dead are alive for god's sake. Fiction became reality! I mean come on!" I laughed.

"I understand that you are honored to have me here and praising for my actions in this world, but I assure you that I am working with you, not for you."

"Don't worry. I won't burden you," I grabbed a cigarette and lighter from my shirt pocket and putting the cigarette in my mouth, "Come as you please and leave whenever your job is done," I lighted my cigarette in a half-assed fashion, "I am a simple man with a simple goal: ending the cycle of violence and corruption," I blew and puffed my cigarette.

As we exited the airport and headed towards the viaduct, there was a police checkpoint at the entrance. The checkpoint consisted of three hooded federal police officers, a guard dog, and a stop sign. The process was that one stopped the vehicle while the officers searched the car for anything suspicious. That was the usual process, but with the recent killings of top government officials, a bounty hunt was placed for the magical Japanese woman, Makimura who was my passenger. "Mierda." (Shit.)

"Is this common in Mexico City?"

"Yes ma'am but this is a bit over-the-top. Unfortunately, they're going to kill us because I have you." Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, fuckity fuck! I looked left and right to see what are my options. I see a hotel in the distance and a gap to escape: there is also a dilapidated fence that could be some help. I snapped my fingers just I had a thought in my head, "Ms. Makimura, before we get to the checkpoint, I will distract the guards but you have to jump out of the car. I'll pick you up at Hotel Aeropuerto." I grabbed a napkin and wrote the address for her, "Here's the address but make sure you do not use your power unless necessary. I do not want the fucking special forces coming at us."

"I understand," She looked at the officers before looking back at me, "Let's hope this work." My heart, thumping, rushing and pumping blood, filled me up with fear and once the officer came to my window, it slowly faded as I slowly pulled up to the checkpoint. I see an M4 carbine hanging from the hip at me, pointing me at imminent death. The federal police officers were wearing black ski masks and sunglasses; the only skin showed was the mouth. One officer said to me, "Identification, p-."

The moment of truth came: they knew we are here. "Is that? It's her!" As soon as they screamed, I instantly floored the gas pedal going from zero to ninety kilometers an hour. The engine roared with gusto and the tires smoked before I released the emergency brake. I swerved to the left and right before I straightened myself out. I drove far enough so the officers could not catch me. I stepped on the break pedal, which made a screeching noise. I breathed heavily for a while and looked towards her. "Mea culpa," I said to her. I gave her one of my two pistols to her, "Here's a Beretta. Don't lose it. Use it. Now go!"

Police sirens were blaring closer to us. She got out of the car quickly and ran towards the viaduct fence. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Arturo."

"Buena suerte, Arturo!"

"Gracias," I said back to her before driving off and escaping the police cars. "Alright then. Let's play cat and mouse." I floored the gas pedal and lifting the emergency brake and jumped over through the viaduct curb. I turned right on Norte 229 and I saw a line of cars. I looked at my right and there was a tight gap that I can escape from traffic so I crashed through a telephone booth, which spilled out coins. The coins spilling out brought in a crowd of children to collect the coins from my crash. The police motorcycle saw me crashing and was unable to catch me due too many collecting coins. I looked back with relief before crashing into a hardware store in front of me. I crashed the car inside which spilled lots of paints, all warm colorful paints onto my black car. The airbag exploded and I kicked the car door out, and the owner was coming at me and yelling at me for what I have done to his store. The police sirens were catching up to me so I pulled out my gun, which startled the owner and left the scene.

I then opened up the glove box and pulled out two flash grenades. I got out of the car, pulled the pin, and threw a flash grenade at the police cars. The grenade exploded a bright blinding light. The driver was blinded by this and crashed into a grocery store across the street, while the other car crashed behind the other car. I limped walked to a motorcycle parking lot where onlookers were looking at me. One motorcyclist quivered in my presence; he was driving a Yamaha motorcycle. I pointed my gun from the hip at him, "Llaves, ahora." (Keys, now.)

He gave his keys and I said to him again, "Corre." (Run.) He ran away. My right leg was broken from the crash so changing the gearshift was painful. "I'm coming for you!" I switched the gearshift, revved the engine, and drove away from the scene.


	5. Land of the Lost

*Miki Makimura's POV* I heard screaming, gunfire, and chaos. That's Arturo's plan, I guess. I hope he comes soon because I am sticking out like a sore thumb in this place. I feel, from where I am standing, like this a trap to be made. But it never happened; as Arturo is already distracting the police, surprisingly, the people are ignoring me. They saw him being chased by a line of police cars and go back to their business. Do they not care or are they desensitized? I see kids running without a care in the world and right next to them is a shrine surrounding a rotting decapitated head.

I have heard about these stories from Arturo when he asked for help. Neither did I expect this or know this. I thought Mexico was like any other nation, but this feels different. I do not know why but I see in these souls around me begging for something miraculous in their lives. For the first time after becoming the Onryo Runner, I had the time to see what makes these people join the chaos. Also, before I was killed, I remembered the chaos that swept my city and radicalized normal people into savages from Satan and the incident at the stadium.

I saw a little kid selling little trinkets ranging from yellow squash-like cups to cutesy decorated flamingos. I went up to this kid and asked her what makes these people here indifferent. I looked into her soul and by accidental impulse, I looked at everybody's souls around me. Hundreds of people did unspeakable things: from the elderly to the police to even little children, including the little girl. Yet their souls do not show anything evil about it rather it was survival of the fittest. The mentality for these people are driven to be is that there is no opportunity here, corruption is rampant, and people don't care. There is no unity, no care, and no humanity; there was absolutely nothing. When people are born here, they know from the beginning that they just got unlucky.

My god, this is the land of the lost. I went back to the little girl and asked her again what makes these people do these insufferable actions. First I asked her name: she was Pandora and she also asked mine's. Pandora's only answer was that there is nothing to lose here. For example, she pointed at a well-groomed button-up businessman with a briefcase on the roof of a café. He looked rich but was in serious distress. According to her, the man was shouting something about life not being perfect while carrying a knife but his tone had no remorse. A cat walks across the man and quickly he picks up the cat and eats it before he slashes his throat. The body tumbles down the metallic roof before crashing down on a park bench. The briefcase opens upon impact and papers fly across the street and viaduct. A paper landed on my feet and I picked it up. I asked Pandora to translate this paper and she says that the businessman was laid off because for no reason. Next to the fallen papers are newspapers describing and detailing the life and death of a victim killed by gangs, police, or whatnot. Again, the people did not bother to cry for help and simply carried on. The morgue stood by on sight just in case if there was any "rubbish" left. Then she pointed the crowd walking below, not looking up. What I saw in front of me wasn't that people are just inherently evil rather they are just driven towards it. They do not need some leader or god to drive them into madness; they need themselves to do that.

The gangs she told me were brutal but play a little role in making people evil. Survival is the main culprit in making people evil. Pandora even told me upfront about one incident that involved her brutally beating up her sibling. She had no remorse when she talked about it but given that everyone was poor around her, she had this mentality that since they are going to live and die poor, she might as well need something to satisfy this dim situation.

I could have punished everyone in this radius including Pandora the one I talked to but I could not do it because everyone is for himself or herself. Is it wrong or right to punish them? I thought that everyone was evil for a reason but what happens when everyone around them is evil but are forced to by their own will. For the first time since my death and resurrection, I cried. I lost my balance when I started to cry and gave the girl some pesos before I left.

I grabbed a chair and sat down in a dark alley, crying, pondering, and questioning who or what could do to these people. This plan did not need to be conducted by Satan or some corrupt government; this was humanity at its lowest. When my head was on a pike, my soul cried and my eyes looked towards Akira-kun. I saw his tears pouring down for me, Furoda, Wamu, and other innocents caught in the fray. There was something that needed to be done.

Pandora came back and said if I was OK. I was shocked by her kindness and even more stunned when she gave me the money back. She said to me that for the first time in her life, she finally thought about how precious life is and feels sorry for her sibling she beat up. She then said that my soul was something to be reckoned with and that I can change something in this land for better not only for her but everyone around here. When we talked, I looked into her soul and heard her say, "Imagine millions of people here waking up one day and notice something extraordinary good, something not bad, not corrupt, not evil; just something good. I want to see happiness and confidence here." Yeah, I wish for something like that.

I was touched by that Pandora's statement and before I could give her thanks she already was gone. I don't know who she is but after meeting her, there was something that needed to be reckoned with. Maybe instead of punishing people based on their deeds and avoid people repeating the same mistakes from the past, maybe we can change something that people can look up to. Give them hope. I am glad I was offered the opportunity to meet Arturo otherwise I am stuck here punishing people always assuming that they're evil after looking into their souls.

"Miki," a voice whispered.

"Who's that?" said as she wandered through the open-air market.

"Miki." The voice said again.

"Who are you?"

"I am you."

"Can't be," she grabbed a butcher knife from the meat stall, "You're not real. Physically and mentally." She holds tight of the butcher knife.

"We know. But let me ask you this: is this your conclusion?"

"Conclusion? No, no, no, no, no! This is not 'we'-"

"Yes we are! Stop ignoring yourself!"

"What do you want?" she screamed before hiding herself away from the crowd behind the shadow of the stalls.

"I do not want anything. I want you to recognize yourself." The voice faded away.

"Hello? Hello? Fuck!" she said before throwing the knife at a wall. Makimura slid down against the beer crates, crying and panting heavily. She was lost in the market of thoughts, screams, and food. What the hell happened to me, she said to herself. Realizing that she was alone, she walked out of the market before squinting her eyes at the hot browned sun. She looked left and right before going away from this place and the girl. "Makimura, where are you?" Arturo said with the sirens blaring behind the background.

"Sorry?"

"¿Dónde estás? Where are you?"

"At the -uh," she looked around and looked at the sign, "at the Mercado del Libre."

"¡Mierda! I told you to wait at the hotel! OK, stay there I'm coming!" The motorcycle revving sound faded away before the call went out. She waited outside at the market waiting for Arturo to get her.

The little girl looks at Makimura from the distance before hiding herself away in some burnt out building. It was a former school that was destroyed by a gang-related arson attack. She ran through the former hallways before reaching the auditorium. The auditorium is packed full of armed gangsters, corrupt federal, municipal, and city police officers, and some marines and Special Forces soldiers in the mix. She looks left and runs towards the stage in the middle. On the stage, there was a man in the chair hidden behind the burnt vermillion curtains with the heading that says, "Learn to think and act for themselves and be free." She passes through the army of men in black, kneels one knee down and says to the man in the chair. She spoke, "Señor, I have brought you a gift for you like I promised."

"What gift you speak of?"

"It's a woman."

"¿Una mujer?" (A woman?)

"Sí, una mujer."

"¿Su nombre?"

"Makimura."

"Gracias, my little girl. You can leave now and I will give you money and food as I promised. Come here once a week and so you can reap your reward. It's my promise to you, Pandora." The man snapped his fingers and a man in black gave the little girl two backpacks: one was filled with a month's supply of food, the other was filled with the money of twenty years salary for a Mexican worker. She grabbed the backpacks and run away.

"Señor," said the man in black, "why did you need this girl, Pandora?"

"Because this little girl can help us later on to find Akira. His girlfriend, Makimura, is here and others like her friends and family are out there, plotting to kill me," the man continued with a sarcastic tone, "It's not like death will be inevitable."

"I see," the man in black said, "Why death? You're not dead."

The man comes out of the shadow, with his white bowl cut haircut, black suit, and a white tie, and a cane with the numbers, 666. He finishes it off, "Death is something I cannot live to repeat again for countless of times."

The man in the chair spoke again, "I understand that you're confused, but you don't know death yet."

The man in black left the scene. There was silence in the room and the man stood up and spoke in a loud volume to a crowd in front of him, "Find Makimura and tell her that Satan is here for you." Satan left the stage and went to his white Bentley parked outside of the burnt building, "Coming for you Devilman, especially you Makimura-san." He drove away.

She left the auditorium before returning to outside. Carrying her two backpacks, she walked with tears in her eyes and uttered in shame, "I am sorry".


	6. Onryo Runner: Character Profile

Name: Miki Makimura

Alter ego name: The Onryo Runner.

Name derived from the words, Runner, as Miki Makimura is highly skilled in track running as she is the fastest member of her high school track team and, Onryo, a type of Japanese vengeful ghost which is capable of causing harm in the world of the living, harming or killing enemies, or even causing natural disasters to exact vengeance to redress the wrongs it received while alive then takes their spirits from their dying bodies.

Backstory: Miki Makimura is the love interest of Akira Fudo aka the titular hero, Devilman.

Miki was a kind young lady who wanted to love everybody. Having grown up around her deeply religious Christian father and confronting ostracization for being bi-racial, Miki had confidence in observing something other than the surface of somebody and in addition becoming more acquainted with them better. She would do anything in the need of the general population she administers to. Even when the presence of demons was made known, Miki declined to partake in the putrefying anarchy that formed in the country, as she stayed undaunted in her confidence in love and prosperity.

Also, she was the fastest member of her high school's track team and held the reputation of being the fastest member.

Despite the series of tragedies that resulted in the world becoming more bleak as Akira's path as Devilman raged on, she remained as the titular hero's one and only ray of hope for humanity. However, then came the fateful moment of her life which served as her most unforgettable highlight.

Her death.

Not only was she murdered by an insane human mob chasing after her, but her dead body was desecrated by being dismembered and paraded around her burning house on tall stakes by said human mob. Thus, when she tragically died, Akira's faith in humanity died with her.

Just when you thought that like all of the other times, this would be the end for her. As always. However, destiny this time had other plans for her and a few chosen others.

The Ghost Rider, the infamous spirit of vengeance, knowing of the fact that such an innocent and pure girl like her had her own life taken by the true guilty people who were manipulated by Satan's actions, the Rider had decided to resurrect Miki into a being similar to him. Someone who will serve as Akira Fudo's partner in their quest to defeat Satan and end the tragic cycle that has been plaguing Akira, Miki and all of their loved ones once and for all.

Once he has stitched Miki's dead body back together into a complete body, he proceeded to use his powers to summon her soul from the afterlife and made it posses her dead corpse which caused it to be reanimated. Not only that, Mr Blaze also bestowed the powers of the spirit of vengeance into her.

However, when she was brought back to life by the spirit of vengeance's power, Miki had willingly made the ultimate sacrifice. She cast out her innocence and embraced the powers of the spirit of vengeance so that she could use the full capabilities to punish the wicked and bring true justice to the world and the innocent humans living on it.

Thus, the kind young girl who wanted to love everyone is now gone. In her place, Miki Makimura became the Onryo Runner.

Just like Johnny Blaze, she is also now a spirit of vengeance. Forever cursed to wander the human world in order to look for any wicked humans to punish and any loose demons to deport them back to hell.

Though she is a bit grateful for the Ghost Rider for bringing her back to life, she carried a bit of self-loathing onto herself as the resultant current state of her becoming a reanimated corpse caused her to see herself as a real monster. For example, whenever she touches someone, they won't get burnt by the hot fires of hell but they feel something just as terrifying. The extremely cold embrace of death.

As compared to the demons and devilmen, she is now a reanimated dead creature. Something she views as an unnatural abomination that shouldn't exist. Fortunately, she was confided by Blaze that her love, Akira, will always love her as she is still human and would do anything to bring her back if given the chance.

Furthermore, the trauma of her violent death at the hands of humans had given her the drive to mercilessly punish any wicked human whose sins have harmed the innocent in any way. Though her ways of punishing the wicked have been seen by many as too extreme, she had stated that she only does the punishing to the truly wicked and wouldn't harm the truly innocent and undeserving.

Luckily, the Onryo Runner had proven from time to time that even though Miki's soul had now been corrupted by the powers of hell, her pure and kind spirit who genuinely wanted to love others still lived on in her new form.

Plus, she treasures the memories of her loved ones and said memories were her drive to protect the innocent so that no one will ever have to go through any similar tragedies that she and her loved ones did.

Abilities and attacks:

Her talented running speed which she was known for when she was human got enhanced to superhuman levels.

Superhuman strength, agility and durability.

Presented by Blaze, she was given a pair of running shoes which she uses her magic to manipulate them to suit her image. Not only that, she was also given a billy club which was made out of two relay race batons connected together by an extendable cable.

Just like the Ghost Rider, she also has the ability to perform her own version of the Penance Stare. Miki Makimura's version is called the Judgement Touch. When she places her hand on an unfortunate guilty victim's face and mentally focuses her powers, she can cast agonizing judgement onto the victim by forcing his or her soul to experience the pain that he or she had inflicted to any and all innocents during his or her lifetime.


	7. Safe and Sound

*Arturo POV* A car crashes with the federal police car. I think I have enough time to stall the police from catching me. I look down at the gas tank and it was almost out of fuel. No, no, no, no! The motorcycle sputters until it made a complete stop. I left the motorcycle and searched for another motorcycle. I had to remember quickly what market Makimura said she was in. Right, that one and there it was. El Mercado del Libre. In front of me was Makimura waiting for my ride. I hate to break the news to her that I don't have any transportation vehicle right now.

I see a bright red pickup truck heading towards me. Oh shit, it's the police but it wasn't. There were no logos, official seals, or anything but a mounted gun in the rear. Great, now it was a gang after me, but I suspected they are not. They don't have any tattoos on their face, arms, or legs. Now I think it's something or someone after me. Is it-?

"Arturo!"

I looked back and it was a motorcycle and she was riding it. I was perplexed. "How did you-"

"Get in the motorcycle, ¡vamanos!"

I got in and rode the back. I asked her, "Where did-"

"Shut up! Where do you live?"

"Uh-"

"¡Dése prisa!" (Hurry)

"¡Un momento! I have too many fucking safehouses!"

"Which one is close?"

"Francisco Rivas, 22 Obrera!"

She closed her eyes and said out loud, "Got it!" She made a U-turn and turned a sharp right at a busy intersection. Her driving skills are quite amazing and somewhat dangerous or reckless, even for a city dweller like me. I even saw a taxi driver petrified for his life! I held her waist tight and prayed that we do not crash. She asked me, "How many safehouses do you have?"

"I have five."

"Five?"

"Sí, cinco," I replied in a cool manner after we escaped the federal police cars. I even complimented her Spanish, "You're picking up Spanish quite well."

"It's nothing. I learned it from my victims."

"Oh."

"And a little girl."

"A girl?" I hope she didn't talk to one of those kids recruited by some gangs or even worse a corrupt policeman. I asked her who she was, "Where did you meet her? At the market where I saw you?"

"Yes, and her name was Pandora. Don't worry. I looked into her soul before I talked to her. I've learned a lot from this girl and around me."

"I see. And did anything happen?"

There was a pause, "No."

"OK then," he replied before I pointed to my house, "Here's my home." The exterior looks faded and dilapidated: the walls are crumbling, cracks are forming everywhere, and a kid finished spray-painting my door spelling, "puto." I jumped off the bike and chased the kid with a rock I picked up from the ground. I threw it at the kid but it missed. Whatever at least he didn't break in. She parked the motorcycle in front of my house, well one of my houses that is. The first floor is covered with pink paint and the top floor is covered with green paint; all cracks are forming and some bricks are showing their age. "Ok, I'll show you around."

"Fucking hell. Do you live here?" she said.

"Yeah, any problems?"

"No, it's just that-"

"Just what?"

"Never mind – it's nothing," she said with unease. I opened the door and inside looks completely different from the outside. There were modern amenities: a nice Samsung refrigerator in a modern kitchen, a flat screen television, nice mid-modern furnishings, and a king-sized bed. It even had air conditioning that did not break down after hours of use. Immediately, I knew she was surprised when she saw what was inside. "Arturo, I can not-"

"Believe this? Yes, I get the reaction every time," I said, "Well then, I'll show you where I kept the files that you needed and your own room."

I showed her my underground room that was accessible by moving the couch that covered a trapdoor. I opened it and took the ladder downstairs. She followed down with me and I turned on the light: there were computers, file cabinets, a gun closet, and counterfeit machinery. "This is my one-man army base. My own Pentagon."

"I could not trust anyone after I quit from the Federal Police so I stole them so I can make Mexico a bit less stressful. I've had hit and misses from the gangs and the police as well as the military, but I'm here. I started from the bottom again so we can be here. Nobody knows but me and you and some friends up north. Can you keep this a secret?"

"Sí," I said to him. I looked at the pictures of Arturo and the people around him and asked him, "How many friends do you have 'up north?'"

"Two."

"Here?"

"None."

"Oh," she paused for a second, "I see."

"Yeah, I know. I used to have many, but over time, I discovered who were my 'friends' really were. Some lost themselves, others I killed some of them during these days. I have no one left but you," I paused before clapping my hands to change the subject, "Bueno. Oh and by the way, do you have any friends or family? I can bring them here to my safehouses."

"Sure and besides Japan is becoming similarly dangerous like in the past."

"Really? I thought it'd be peaceful like the anime shows I watched during my free time."

"No, it's not." She looked at me in disbelief, "You've got to broaden yourself more and do not get cooped up here. I'll tell you this. Ever since Ghost Rider resurrected me and my friends and family, I have lived and dedicated myself to bring down the most evilest person on the face of the earth: Satan."

"Satan? You mean him from the bible? So God does exist. Huh."

"Yes, Arturo. Satan was the one that killed my boyfriend Akira and influenced many people to kill my friends and family. I cannot forgive him so I scrapped myself of the innocence I used to have so I can punish the wicked and the evil to bring true justice into this world, just like you."

"Aren't we a pair? I like you. You and I each have our goals and our endgame. Bring your friends and family here since you said that they are at risk in Japan. I'll personally take care of them. Call them right now."

"Arigato, Arturo-san."

"Dozo."

"You're good at Japanese, my friend." Makimura called Akira first, "Akira-kun, I found a place here in Mexico. Meet me here in Mexico City at-," she put him on hold and asked me which address to send him to, "Arturo, where's your other houses?

"Uhm, un momento," I looked at my phone and pulled out a sticky note with my other four addresses, "Which nice ho- Oh here: Idaho, 14 Nápoles. It's a 5 bed 3 bath house." I walked to Makimura and gave her my sticky note. I circled two for families to live in.

"Akira-kun, remember this address: Idaho, 14 Nápoles. And tell Furoda-san that address as well. Also tell your parents to stay at Río

Hudson, 24 Cuauhtémoc. Río Hudson, 24 Cuauhtémoc. Write it down, will you?"

Akira replied over Miki's phone "Got it and Makimura-san. I love you that you're helping us. I'll thank your friend once we arrive here."

"Ok, gotta call my family. Bye Akira-kun."

She hung up and called her father first, "Father, tell mom and Taro to stay at Comte 75, Anzures. I repeat Comte 75, Anzures. Got it?"

Meanwhile, somewhere in Japan,...

Noel Makimura replied "Yes, my little girl. We'll be there soon. Taro and mom really miss you dearly. I'll thank your Mexican friend when we get here. I'll see you soon."

"Bye, dad." Her dad hung up the phone and went to his wife and son. "We're saved. Pack your bags quickly because we're going to Mexico!"

His wife was perplexed, "Noel-san, you said Mexico was-"

"Akiko-san, yes I know, but according to her, her friend has safehouses that nobody knows about and cares about. Taro can be left alone without fear."

"I suppose," Akiko looks to Taro, "Taro-san, pack your stuff. We'll be leaving soon."

"Yes mom," Taro said.

*Cut back to Arturo's safehouse back at Mexico*

"No problem. And if something arises, there's a weapons cache and a lockdown alarm at every house. I control and set off alarms if needed to. Don't worry. I am very happy to meet your parents, friends, and Akira especially. I've heard legendary stories about him. Let's pick them up at the airport. This house has two vans parked in the street. We both drive separately but together. I will also buy them airplane tickets so we can pick them up at the same time. It's my job to provide service and help those in need."

"Again, thank you, Arturo."

"It's my pleasure. My job here is to save Mexico. You saved me and I'll save your world. I'm sure Satan wouldn't dare step foot in Mexico. He'll get himself betrayed too easily."

She laughs. "I guess so according to from you."

"OK then, there's a room upstairs. Take some rest we'll pick them up in three days. Buenas noches. I'm going to sleep and keep watch."

"Buenas noches, Arturo-san."


	8. The Sun Also Rises

Three days later, the sun is rising from the horizon and it's a six in the morning. The smog feels the same as before and people are in a rat race to get through their lives. Inside the underground room, Arturo is sleeping in front of his computer and drooling over police, diplomatic, and military files. The alarm clock next to Arturo rings, which prompts him to wake up from his slumber. He slams the clock to turn off the alarm, wipes off the crust from his eyes and stands up looking over the street in front of him. He looks to his left at the clock: it was 6:13. Thirteen minutes to prepare for the day, Arturo stretches and climbs up the ladder to wake Makimura up. "Señora Makimura, wake up," Arturo calls out.

He sees her sitting in a chair overlooking the courtyard. She is smoking a cigarette and is smiling. "Hey Arturo."

"Hey, you ready to go?"

"Yeah," she smiles at me, "I can't wait to meet my friends and family again."

"I bet you're excited. Here," Arturo throws her the car keys, "You're driving behind me, got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. We cannot fit everyone into one van. So we're driving separately but please follow me behind me," he claps his hands, "I'll go make myself some tea. You want some?"

"No thanks. I'll wait in the van."

"Ok. See you soon."

Arturo leaves her room and head off to the kitchen. He finds an electric kettle and plugs it to the wall. He then poured water and boiled it in an electric kettle and found some black tea pouches in the cupboard. The water boils furiously and the "ting" sound was made. He pours the hot water into my portable water, dumped the tea pouch inside, closed the bottle, and shook the bottle. Arturo then grabs my keys and head off outside to my van. He sees her waiting in the van next to his and he gets into the van. He starts the engine; she starts later. He switches into gear and drives off to the airport. Arturo looks at an unfortunate scene beside the van. A soldier on a motorcycle pulls a car over, goes up to the driver, and drags out a woman from the car. The solider is grabbing the woman's hair before slamming her to the ground. She is begging for mercy but the solider shoots her, execution style. The soldier screams out, "¡Come mierda, demonio!" (Eat shit, demon!) The soldier goes into his motorcycle and drives away. Every driver around him was worried, including him. Arturo grabs the walkie-talkie next to the cup holder and talked to it, "Hey, do you pick up? Over."

"Yes I do. Over"

"Good. It still works. Anyway, follow my lead. Let's not make any scenes from now on."

She looks at the dead woman on the side of her car, "Does this happen if things get serious? How do you cope with this?"

I replied, "Yes when they do get serious. There's a no coping mechanism if you live here. You get numb and get used to it," he said, "After that incident at the airport, the government is ramping up to protect itself. What made this worse is that before you arrived, there were reports of demons popping up all around the city. Everybody here is treated like a suspect, which means that it's up to the enforcer's discretion. Let's not end up like her. Over"

"Sí. Over."

"Ok let's go. Over"

Arturo puts down the walkie-talkie and within forty minutes, they arrive at the airport. I pull over to the curb first and then she follows as well. She looks out at the window and a family comes out of the arrivals. She swells up in tears and comes out of the van. She runs towards them, "Mom, Dad, and Taro. Is that you?"

"Yes sweetie," her mom said, "We miss you so much dearly. Taro-san," she calls out to Taro, "say hello to your sister."

Taro comes out to hug her, "Onee-chan, I miss you so much."

"Me too," Makimura said and she remembered something, "Guys, meet my new friend, Arturo-san."

He tries to brush up his Japanese, "Konnichiwa, Mexico City e yokoso." (Hello and welcome to Mexico City.)

Her father said to him in English, "Thanks and your Japanese is quite good. Where did you learn it?"

"I learned it from anime and manga."

"Good for you. And I like to say thank you for protecting my daughter from earlier."

Her mom and Taro said thanks to me before heading off to Makimura.

"No worries. By the way, she'll be the one driving to your safehouse. She knows the way." Her father nodded at me and Makimura directs her family to the van they'll be riding on. She helps them board and put their luggages away. I went back to my car and I saw a toned man with a black shirt on and in darker shade. His hair was messy but he didn't seem to care. Next to him was a family: a mom and a dad. I think that's him. Makimura calls out, "Akira-kun! Come here!"

Arturo was right. He went up to him and his family and said to them, "Señor, are you Akir-." Before he was able to finish my sentence, someone behind him grabbed his arm and put him in a chokehold. She was a beautiful redhead with a long ponytail, wore an Adidas running jacket, looked tomboyish, and, like Akira, her skin has a darker shade. She was strong and he, in a weird sense, liked it. "Makimura, help me," said while Arturo was choking on his breath.

"Kuroda-san, let him go! He's a friend."

She immediately lets go of Arturo and Arturo gasped for air and pointed at Kuroda, "What the hell was that?"

"I thought you were threatening him."

"No I was not! Anyway, I forgive you and I bet your name is Kuroda, right?"

"Yes."

"Ok. You, Akira and his family are riding with me."

"What?" Kuroda screamed at him. Makimura jumps in the conversation, "Come on Kuroda-san, and just go with him. He already forgave you. Besides, he's our only help here."

She looks at me with suspicion, "Fine but I don't trust you."

"Say what you want about me, but I'm still here," Arturo said back at her, "The sun also rises so deal with it."

While Kuroda and Makimura are talking to each other, Arturo goes up to Akira and his family, "Hey, sorry about what happened there. My name's Arturo."

"Akira Fudo. Thank you for helping my girlfriend."

His mom and dad came up to him to give him thanks. "Thank you so much for helping my son and us. I hope we can be good friends," his mother said.

"I hope so as well, Mrs. Fudo."

I help them with their luggages and Akira helps his and Kuroda's luggages. Akira and I put the luggages in the back and I close the trunk. "You ride shotgun," I said to him. We got into the car and waited for everyone to settle in. I grabbed my walkie-talkie, "Makimura, you ready? Over."

"Yes I am. Over."

They left the airport without incident. Meanwhile, a police car watches the two vans. Inside, an airport police officer looks at the vans with his binoculars. He radios in, "This is SAT 8, request backup?"

"No," Asuka said in his white Bentley, "Tell the others to follow them."

"Copy," the officer said before driving away. Asuka drops his walkie-talkie and smiles to himself, "I found

you Akira. Where are you going?" He chuckles before telling the driver, "When the red dots appear, follow them."

"Understood."

He laughs quietly, "Oh Akira, you thought going to Mexico would save you and your friends and family? I'll meet your friend soon once we find you." The white Bentley drove through the traffic into the morning sunrise.


	9. Kinghts Templar Cartel: Group Profile

Knights Templar Cartel

Spanish name: Los Caballeros Templarios

Founded in 2011, the Knights Templar Cartel is a Mexican criminal organization originally composed of the remnants of the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel and based in the Mexican State of Michoacán.

After the first alleged death of Francisco Montes and Nazario Moreno, leaders of the La Familia Michoacana cartel, on 9 December 2010,a split between the cartel leaders emerged. Some of the cartel co-founders, Montes brothers; Fred Montes CM and Frank Montes, Servando Gómez Martínez, and Dionisio Loya Plancarte, formed into a Royalty of La Familia calling itself Caballeros Templarios (or Knights Templar). A large part of La Familia Michoacana left with them to form the Knights Templar group, while José de Jesús Méndez Vargas kept the leadership of the now greatly diminished "Familia Michoacana", starting a fight for the control of Michoacán.

The Knights Templar Cartel indoctrinates its operatives to "fight and die" for the cartel. They have taken full control of the now defunct La Familia Michoacana operations in states including Michoacán, Guerrero, the state of Mexico, and Morelos.

Along with the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel, the Knights Templar formed a short-lived joint enforcer gang called Cárteles Unidos (English: United Cartels) or La Resistencia, composed of well-trained gunmen dedicated to kill and expel Los Zetas Cartel operatives who were invading the former Familia Michoacana territories in Michoacán and Jalisco.

The Templars' most recent feud is against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is trying to gain full control of Jalisco and Michoacán, and also against Civilian vigilante and Militia groups that are fighting back the criminals in an attempt to clear Michoacan from the Knights Templar.

On February 27, 2015, Servando "La Tuta" Gómez, Leader of the Knights Templar was arrested by the Mexican federal police. A non-specific number of his associates were also arrested and many properties were also seized by the Mexican government.

Ethical Code

The Knights Templar cartel was founded on a strict ethical code developed by La Tuta. The code is contained in a small book that is handed out to all members of the cartel and even to the public. The book is decorated with knights on horseback with lances and crosses. The 22 page book is titled "The Code of the Knights Templar of Michoacan" and contains the rules and regulations of the gang.

The gang has based its rules on those of the European Knights Templar. Members swear to help the poor and helpless, fight against materialism, respect women and children, not kill for money, and not use drugs. The Knights even go as far as drug testing all members. While the cartel has moved more towards accepting criminal acts prohibited by the ethical code, breaking the code can still incur punishment by death.

Current events

As of September 2017 it is believed the cartel has ceased to exist after their leader Pablo "El 500" Toscano Padilla is believed to have been killed by members of La Nueva Familia Michoacana as he and Ezequiel "El Cheques" Castañeda, who was also killed were on their way to a regional meeting with members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, who El 500 was working for and were in the process of forming an alliance with them. The cartel has seen their cartel split in two with either sides siding with the CJNG or the La Nueva Familia Michoacana cartel.


	10. Schizophrenic Assault

(Arturo POV): Picking up Akira, his family, Makimura's family, and Miki Kuroda has gone without a hitch. Nothing went south yet but I was a bit worried and cautious so packed some heat just in case. Before joining in, I was hunted for a quite a while now and I carried my 1911 pistol whenever I go somewhere. But this time, it feels different because I am confident that my friends can carry out the tasks as I did.

Continuing to drive down the viaduct, we were not approached by any soldiers or gangs or someone who has a vendetta, except for the recently ramped up security checkpoint. We passed with ease and luckily not one soldier recognized us from days ago. I think I am stretching my luck here a bit. After passing that checkpoint with Makimura following, I radioed in, "Makimura, any signs of trouble? Over."

"No signs of trouble. Over."

"Gracias. Over." I put down the walkie-talkie and Kuroda apologizes to me, "Sorry for the chokehold."

"No worries. You're a strong woman! You could be a good use for help in my later missions."

"Like what kind of help?"

"Mostly breaking in and being my bodyguard. Señorita, my body is already drained of life so please help me out," I said with a joking manner while blushing in red.

She looks at me with a slight smile, "You're blushing. Do you have feelings for me?"

I was surprised by her answer and replied with a quick no with a greater blush. She replied, "You're in love with me, aren't you? You really enjoyed my chokehold."

Akira jumps in, "Arturo-san! Really?"

I admitted to Kuroda, "Ok yes! I love you and I love big women! Is there something wrong with that?" While I was still blushing, she laughs with joy, "I'll admit. You do look deserving. I do love you."

While Kuroda and I talked, I see Akira in the back seat looking at the derelict buildings and the misery outside; his expressions were a mix of awe and sadness. Akira asked me, "How could you live with this injustice every day? So many innocent lives are lost here."

"I know," said nonchalantly, "At first, we asked for help, but over time we lost hope after help has never come for years. Hope," I said while creating a V-sign with two fingers moving up and down, "is such a cliché. Don't call me pessimistic; rather call it realistic. It's been like since before I was born."

His father jumped in the conversation, "That's quite depressing. Akira-san, consider yourself lucky that you were born in Japan, even when we didn't have everything." His mom joined in as well, "Arturo-san, you're such a brave man."

"Gracias but," I sighed while thinking of my past, "I lost myself a long time ago and now a spark was lit and I think hope is coming back. That's the first time I felt a bit optimistic."

Akira continued to look outside and asked me, "I saw how the government seems to be paranoid about themselves. I mean, look," Akira points at the police officer and a gangster exchanging bribes, "How crazy is that?"

"I know how you feel, but once you get to know this country, then you'll accept it."

"Accept it? No, I want to save these people."

I laughed at his answer, "¿Por qué? Why would you save these hijos de puta? (sons of bitches) You couldn't even save your friends!"

"Watch it, fucker. You don't know shit what he put me through."

"Put though? My ass, I was running from the cops when I was a cop, student, kid, and baby! I'm doing you a favor by giving you shelter to kill that motherfucker!" I heavily sighed and apologized, "I'm sorry for my temper. I'm sure your friend had ulterior motives, but sometimes to get a rid a pest, you must kill it, not befriend it. Don't pet your former friend, sometimes you gotta kill it."

"Before I was killed, I gave this answer to my, well, former friend. You know him as Satan. I said to him, 'the strong must protect the weak.' He was very cold about life in general and decided to burn the world over in my universe. When I saw his tears over my decapitated body, I won the battle over his heart because he did not open up his own."

"I don't get it."

"Listen. He found out the truth of life in the most ironic way as possible. He won a pyrrhic victory at the cost of my life."

"I see. Well, thanks for the life lesson," I said in a confused manner.

"I'll tell you later about it."

"Sounds about right. Want some beers ?" I pulled out a Dos Equis beer, opened it, and drank it.

"Sure."

Akira's dad butts in, "Son, don't you drink any fucking alcohol or I'll burn you. And you," pointing at me with his flaming right hand, "don't you fucking drink and drive."

"Come on dad! I'm Devilman. Besides, you are the ghost rider and mom's an onryo are immune. He's already immune." We laughed until something happened.

I heard an explosion twelve cars in front of me. A loud crash, boom, and pop. People were screaming and getting out of their cars. Gunshots were fired. Police officers were even running away, even though they are the frontline of defense. Makimura radios in, "What the hell happened? I'm coming out with my family." Then, I head a yell. I looked through the rubble and smoke and saw a man, wearing a ski mask and a shirt with a red crusader cross. I radioed back to her, "Makimura, stay there and protect your family," I looked at my passengers, "Stay here," I told Akira, his family, and Kuroda.

"No," Kuroda said firmly, "You want to be your bodyguard? I'll go with you and besides you're providing us with a lot of resources."

"Me too," said Taro. His parents also agreed to go with me. I grabbed my pistol and walkie-talkie and loaded with ammo. I waved my pistol to signal them to follow me. They came out of the van and walked with me towards the center of the action. There were body parts everywhere: decapitated heads, mangled bones, blood pools, and twitched arms. I found a barely alive soldier with his legs missing, "What happened?"

He explained, "The Templars just bombed a bus and the viaduct bridge collapsed. They're still here," he gasped his last breath before finally dying in my arms. Makimura and her family arrived with us. I told everyone, "Guys, find the Templars. They're these fucking cult-like lunatics that are killing everyone in their paths. Go fuck them up!"

"Yeah!" everyone said. We split up. I went with Taro and Kuroda while Akira went with his mom and dad. Makimura went with her family. I saw Taro and Kuroda transform. Kuroda started to appear arachnid humanoid while Taro becomes like a Ghost Rider. That was fucking amazing! I crouched behind a car and saw a Templar gangster walking back and forth. I said to Kuroda, "Show me what you can do, love."

She smiled back, "Roger that." Her eyes turned yellow with glee. Her back grew spider appendages and grabbed the man off guard. The gangster was struggling and screaming for help. Someone screamed for backup, but Kuroda immediately tore the gangster in half. I told Taro, "Hey, there are three more coming. Show me what you got."

He nodded and transformed into some kind of caterpillar/centipede creature. His transformation was phenomenal: he grew from a kindergarten height into a enormous ferocious demon. I was fascinated and even jealous of their abilities. He ran towards them and started to chop these gangsters up. One of them tried to crawl away with a missing leg, but Taro got in and ate him alive. I head the bones crunching and blood spewing from Taro's mouth. I came out of hiding, "Wow, you guys are fucking awesome! I never felt happy about-"

A bullet struck my right leg. I came falling down and screaming for pain. A man with a missing eye shot me. Then a flaming chain came across me and rolled up the gangster's head. I looked and followed the chain and it was Akira's dad. His voice was deep and ferocious, "Don't you fucking kill my friend!" He pulled it and decapitated the gangster. "A little help please," I begged.

Akira's dad came over and picked me up, "You're going to be alright. Honey," his wife an Onryo, "Stich him up quickly."

Akira's mom comes to my aid. She puts her hands on my leg, "Arturo-san, this will hurt a bit."

I was screaming in pain. That wasn't a bit painful. "Mierda!" I screamed but the wound healed by her touch. I looked around while still limping, "Anyone out there, putos?" I saw a Templar gangster surrendering in front of me: her face was covered with tattoos of God and some false saint, "I surrender," she cried. I whistled at Kuroda to take her to the van, so we can interrogate her. (End of POV)

Over the distance, there was a battle that was coming to an end. Makimura transformed into the Onryo Runner and dragged a gangster across a pool of blood and ripped body parts. She put her hand across the gangster's face. "Please don't. I'll die from my boss!"

"I'll be the judge of that," she said. She initiated the judging as the gangster screamed in pain and terror. The soul from the gangster showed events from his first day as a gangster to ruthless killings of innocents and his family members. After ten seconds, his eye sockets were gouged and burned out, his mouth drooled, and his heart stopped beating. "You are guilty." She lets go of the body and her parents are finishing the job around her. Her father burning his last victim while her mother grabs her hand out of a gangster's throat. Makimura looks down at her pale arms covered in blood. She smiles with satisfaction, no more. She grabs the walkie-talkie from the pocket, "Arturo, how are you doing."

He replied, "We're just about done. Let's get to back to the van before the dust clears. Someone must've planned this schizophrenic assault for me." He and the rest promptly went back to the van and Arturo turned on the car and drove to the viaduct exit. The van behind him follows Arturo's van as well. "Guys, let's go the Idaho house. It's time to celebrate." "This country and city can be saved," Arturo thought. And so the adventure begins.


	11. Ghost Rider Army's Founding Members

The Ghost Rider Army's Founding Members are the very first people to be resurrected by Johnny Blaze via him retrieving all of their corpses and bestowing all of them the powers of the spirit of vengeance in order to transform into terrifying supernatural beings in order for them to avenge their own deaths and make Satan pay for all of his crimes. Thus, the Ghost Rider army was supposed to kind of a supporting army for Akira Fudo's Devilman army against Satan's demon army.

All of the founding members are people who Akira had loved and cared for with all of his heart. His precious people. Each and every one of them representing Akira Fudo's love towards certain people. With that knowledge in mind, Johnny Blaze decided to turn all of these people as commanders of the army to spite Satan in showing him that Akira has something that he doesn't.

Miki Kuroda "Miko"

\- A childhood friend of both Akira and Miki. A member of the same track team as Akira and Miki. At some point in time, she was eventually taken over by a demon but was turned into a devilman instead as she still retained her human mind and heart.

\- Due to not being a Ghost Rider but she still retained her powers as a Devilman, she is still considered as member of Akira's Devilman Army. However, Miko is considered an honorary member of the Ghost Rider Army.

\- She represents Akira's friendship. His platonic love towards people Akira considers as his best friends such as Miko.

Akira's parents. His father, Reijiro Fudo, and his mother, Kaori Fudo.

\- Friends of the Makimura family. Both of them are constantly working abroad but still showed their love and care to their own son by sending them running shoes from overseas and spend time with him as much as they can whenever they returned to Japan on their days off.

Miki's family. Her father, Noel Makimura, her mother, Akiko Makimura, and her younger brother, Taro Makimura.

\- Friends of Akira's parents, Akira Fudo moved in with them whenever Akira's parents worked outside the country. Though, Akira Fudo is not the family's real blood related son, all of them treated Akira with true love and sincere kindness as if he was really part of the family.

\- All of Akira's parents and Miki's entire family represents Akira's familial love. His familial love towards his actual parents who despite not being around with him most of the time, still showed love and care to him and his familial love to the family who treated him as one of their own with love and kindness.

Miki Makimura

\- A childhood friend of Akira Fudo, she was on the same track team as Miko and Akira as the team's fastest member. She had feelings for Akira but she never got the chance to tell them when she was alive.

\- Due to how important she is to Akira Fudo, she was made the overall leader of the Ghost Rider Army.

\- She represents Akira's love. To be more specific, she represents Akira's romantic love to the people he considers very precious as Akira had romantic feelings for Miki Makimura as well or in Akira's own words, "Akira Fudo has the strength to retain his humanity during his path as Devilman because Miki Makimura existed."


	12. Casa de Idaho

Weaving through traffic and security checkpoints, they both arrive at the safehouse. The houses and apartment buildings they passed through were quite amazing and spellbinding: there were eclectic architectures ranging from colonial to postmodern to the Bauhaus style. There were parts in this area where single-family houses would stand between two tall towers or a gigantic concrete park would stand on top of a tiny café. Welcome to Colonia Nápoles.

Located in the Benito Juarez Borough, this neighborhood is truly the last bastion of the middle class, and unfortunately, it is slowly being replaced by it richer neighbors up north, Polanco. The borders on the northern and western side of Nápoles is marked by a concrete viaduct called Río Becerra, the eastern border is marked Avenida Insurgentes Sur, and the south is bordered by Calle San Antonio (San Antonio Street). The street names here are fascinating: most street names come from those who settled there by former Americans thus they named the streets after American states, cities, and national parks. Examples include Calle Yosemite, Calle Chicago, and Calle Idaho, the street where the safehouse is located.

The vans pull up to Calle Idaho, 14 (14 Idaho Street). The safehouse had two floors and adjacent towards it is another apartment building. The house has white stucco on its walls, red window covers, and black window bars. There is a small garage, which is marked in pitch black and can one car. The van with the tied up gangster heads into the garage while the van is parked outside, next to the house.

Makimura parks the car and brings her family and Akira's family inside the house while Akira, Kuroda and I drag the gangster into an underground room, ready for interrogation. The gangster is covered with a black bag on her head and is dragged downstairs by Kuroda and Arturo to a dimly lit room. The room smelled musty, the floor was covered with bloodstains and crushed cockroaches, and there was a single light bulb dangling overhead. It also has a box full of items used for torture.

Arturo brings a chair into the room and Kuroda sits the gangster down onto the chair with the gangster's hands and feet tied up. Arturo whistles Akira to come down here and he follows downstairs. Akira, Kuroda, and Arturo were downstairs watching the gangster to begin the process of interrogation. Akira's mom and dad came downstairs and waited outside for them. Arturo radioed Makimura to bring them up, so they don't influence any outcomes for this gangster lowlife. "Roger that, Arturo," she says and comes downstairs to bring Akira's parents upstairs. She comes downstairs with them.

(Arturo POV) I begin the talking to her after Makimura gives him the all-clear sign. "Your cartel bombed a bus, which your cartel would never do. What's going on?"

She didn't speak so I took off the black bag off her. She squinted and blinked at the bright light above her. I noticed there were photos that were sticking out of her left pocket. I grabbed them out and surprised to see my face in those photos. All of them were hidden in plain sight. I asked her, "¿Está me espiando?" (Are you spying me?) I grabbed a crowbar and whacked her in the kneecap. Her knee was bleeding and bruising and she cried out in pain. I whacked her again for ten times until I heard her bones break. There was a sudden rage in my body, desiring to torture and kill. It felt euphoric and the more I inflicted pain, the more I was pleased. I tried to keep myself from being too happy; otherwise, I too would become the villain. I dropped the crowbar and grabbed a bowie knife from the box next to me. Akira was surprised and grabbed my hand, "What are you doing?"

"Interrogation. What did you expect?" I tried to shrug his hand off me but to no avail.

He gets furious with my "peculiar" way of getting information, "She hasn't said anything yet?"

"I know, but this is the only way," I said to Akira.

The Templar spoke quietly, "Hablaré." (I'll talk!)

I replied back, "¿Qué? Repitelo. " (What? Say that again.)

"¡Hablaré!" (I'll talk!)

"Bueno," I grabbed a cigarette from my pocket and lit it up, "OK, hablemos." (Let's talk.)

Akira asked me before the interrogation begins, "Arturo," he said quietly, "we want to help you but we don't know Spanish so is there a translator somewhere where we can help you?"

"Hermano, I don't know." Suddenly, Kuroda came in and brought in the gangster's backpack, "Hey Arturo! You might wanna check this out," she pulls out a Texas driver's license and a US passport. I looked at them and discovered that gangster was born in Texas. Furious, I went up to the Templar gangster, "Hey, ¿habla inglés?"

"No."

I grabbed my knife and put it up to her neck, "Don't lie to me, puta! You're born in Texas and moved to Mexico when-" I scrolled through her passport and found a long-term Mexican visa stamp, "Since last year! What's going on?"

"Nada." (Nothing.)

I sighed heavily and plunged my knife into her right thigh; I wiggled the knife to make some space for my knife and pulled it out. She screams out in pain again and bites her mouth, which started to bleed out. Her thigh gushing out blood and yelled at me in pain, "Fuck you, you piece of shit!" She then spits on my face with her blood and I wiped her bloody spit off me. I asked Kuroda, "Kuroda, hold her tongue."

She panics and tries to wiggle out of the chair but to no avail. Kuroda grabs the gangster's tongue, "Hold still, you bitch!" Makimura and Akira watch the interrogation and could not stop it from happening. Akira whispers to her, "We should stop-"

"No," Makimura said, "let Arturo do his thing. We must follow his traditions here. Maybe we could learn something for the future." Akira was shocked but not surprised; ever since he and Ghost Rider resurrected Makimura and everyone, things were not the same. Makimura, once sweet and caring, is now bitter and cruel. What happened to her?

Kuroda ask me while I grab a driller from the box, "How do you say 'shut up, bitch' in Spanish?"

"Cállate, puta."

"Thanks," she said to me and switched back at the gangster, "¡Cállate, puta!" Kuroda then hits her on the head with her fist.

She screams in pain and before I laid my knife onto her soft tongue she screamed out, "I'll talk! I'll talk! Stop! Stop! Stop, please! Please!" She started to cry and in return, Akira tried to hold back his tears as well.

I told Akira, "Cry upstairs. Go!" Akira leaves the room. I went back to the gangster, "Now you see, that wasn't bad," I looked to Kuroda, "Let go of tongue." She lets it go and I went back to the gangster, "OK, what's going on? If not, I'll ask her," pointing to Kuroda, "to chop off your tongue and limbs off. This time, her way." Kuroda grew arachnid-like legs out of her back and two pairs of spider eyes from her head above her normal eyes. The gangster was petrified and started to urinate herself. She was in total fear and tried to escape and said to me,

"What the- who the hell are you guys?"

I replied, "I'm normal," and pointed to Kuroda and Makimura, "they're not and they're working for me." I talked to Kuroda and Makimura, "No offense."

Both nodded at me. We begin to interrogate her and I started the conversation, "What's your name?"

"Yolanda Pratt Guzman."

"OK, Yolanda. Why do you have pictures of me?"

She swallowed her spit, "You have been a flea for the cartel's business."

"I'm honored. So?"

"They sent me to spy on you and to-"

"To kill me?"

"Yes."

"Why blow up the bus?"

"It was a distraction so I can find you. But after seeing my friends died gruesomely, I panicked and head back to the car before you found me. I did not know what happened but something was off."

She continued, "That is until I found out," she peered at Kuroda's transformed body before hiding her head in front of me, "Please kill me."

"No, your punishment is you being sent back to your boss."

"My family will be killed! I told you everything."

"You don't have relatives, but you have someone."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see," I pulled out her phone from her backpack and looked at her wallpaper, "Aren't you cute? You have a baby boy."

"Don't touch my son! He isn't part of this."

"Really? It's too bad that I could call your boss and tell them "my truth" to the police and get them to kill your son."

Makimura jumps in, "Arturo, what are you doing?"

I put my finger in front of her, "I know what I'm doing," I looked back at Yolanda, "Watch this." I called her boss and lied to her boss that she was stealing money to escape your gang. Oh, I could hear the boss's furious tone and ordered his men to kill Yolanda's baby son. I put the phone up to make Yolanda listen to her boss's men barging her home. I hear the baby crying in fear and within seconds, the gangster called me what to do. I said back, "a la milanesa."

"What's a milanesa ?" Kuroda asked.

"A Mexican tonkatsu. Quite a delicious dish."

Kuroda, shocked by my answer, went outside to throw up. Makimura then grabs me "Stop it now. This ends now. Remember my terms!"

"Hey. I know." I winked at her and she quickly knew something was up. Makimura went to Kuroda and told her my plan.

There was chopping noises and the baby continued to cry. It went on for minutes and it was beautiful, from where I see Yolanda was in tears and in a broken state. The baby was being chopped up and crushed to death, before being rolled up flat into a pancake. When the crying stops, one could hear the frying pan being oiled up. The baby was frying in the pan, before being breaded up. Her phone received a text message. "Oh. Delicious." I showed Yolanda the picture and tears came out more. IT was a messy dish: tiny bones were sticking out, hair protruding everywhere, and et cetera. She stopped crying and her eyes whitened. She couldn't take it anymore and tried to grab the knife but to no avail. I sat down in the chair facing her, "Tell me, where does your boss live?"

She said with her fried voice, "Lomas. Alpes, 340." She looked at me, "Kill me. You won, you monster."

"Gracias," I stood back up and before I left I told her the truth, "By the way, your kid isn't dead. I faked the call, " I laughed at her "It was my friend from up north. His acting was amazing. You can't believe it!" I called on her phone, "Right guys?"

"Arturo, you're one crazy son of a bitch!"

I hung up and looked at Yolanda, "See? This was nothing. You gave me everything. As what stupid Youtubers these days say, 'it's just a prank, bro." I laughed hysterically and gave back her phone. "Now, here's something you need to do: pretend you're dead. Kuroda," she came in, "Take her outside and tell her to never bother me again," Kuroda nodded and dragged Yolanda outside.

I looked back at Makimura and she punched me in the nose. "What the hell?"

"Never do that again or I'll not hesitate to kill you. We're done for today, you sick fuck."

"Whatever." I laughed, "Hey. Welcome to Casa Idaho! At least I have one superpower." She turned her head sideways, gave me the finger and went upstairs. "Whatever." I looked back at the empty room and turned off the light bulb. "Wanna order a milanesa?"

Makimura yelled back at me, "No, order it for yourself!"

I closed the door and went upstairs, ordering a milanesa for dinner.


	13. Devilman: Franchise Profile

Devilman

Creator of franchise: Go Nagai

Date founded of franchise: June 11, 1972

Created by the famous manga artist, Go Nagai, Devilman is a manga that centers around the chronicles of a timid and meek teenage boy named Akira Fudo. However, his life or normalcy comes to an end when a fateful event accompanied by his best friend, Ryo Asuka, Akira got possessed by a demon named Amon. Unlike most humans who when they get possessed by the spirits of demons, they get transformed into the demons' physical bodies, Akira managed to retain his human mind and pure heart while his body became transformed. Instead of transforming into Amon's physical self, Akira became Devilman, a creature who has the abilities and powers of a demon but still retained his human soul albeit he became more confident and courageous due to the Amon's influence within him.

The story was being regarded as one of the most unique stories of all time and one of Go Nagai's magnum opus works along with his two other works, the Mazinger franchise and the Cutie Honey franchise.

The story was considered by Go Nagai as an anti-war work. Such examples of symbolism that symbolizes the horrible effects of war are the fusion of humans and demons which are analogies for military drafts as well as Akira's innocent love interest, Miki Makimura's gruesome death at the hands of an insane human mob which is a parallel of the death of peace.

Heck, Go Nagai even wrote this quote at the end of the story's very final chapter. Go Nagai quoted "There is no justice in war, any war nor is there any justification for human beings killing one another. Devilman carries a message of warning, as we step toward a bright future."


	14. Hermosa Vista (Beautiful View)

Ten hours after interrogation, Miki Makimura and Arturo began to leave Casa Idaho for the hit on the current leader of the Knights Templars Cartel, Mario Serrano Gomez. At his mansion in the Lomas neighborhood, he is seen having lunch with other cartel allies' leaders from the Gulf Cartel B-L Cartel, and Sinaloa Cartel. The three leaders were having a lavish lunch but unbeknownst to them, they were being spied on by two people. Makimura and Arturo were resting on top of the van: Arturo with his binoculars and Makimura with her metal chain.

"Allí están," said Arturo. (There they are.)

"Are you sure that's them?"

"I'm positive. Here," he gives Makimura four photos of each cartel leader.

She grabs Arturo's binoculars and checks it out. Seconds later, she gives it back to him, "You're damn sure, that's them?"

"Yes."

"Alright then. Let's go."

They jump back to the ground, open the trunk, pulled out fake pizza delivery signs. They plastered them all over the van and once done, they headed towards the house. Inside the van were Kuroda, Akira, Taro, and Makimura's parents. Arturo talks to Akira, "Akira, I'm sorry we couldn't take your parents."

"It's fine. Besides, they're having jetlag so let them rest," Akira said.

Arturo drives to the mansion on the hillside and opens the glove box. He pulls out two 1911 pistols and two Mac-11s. Arturo passes the pistols to Akira and Makimura's dad and a Mac-11 to Kuroda and Makimura. He explains while driving, "These weapons can be easily hidden so use it when we get to the entrance. There's a fuck ton of guards after yesterday's incident."

"Arturo," Akira said, "you know we don't need guns."

"Trust me, you do need it when you're not ready to transform."

Kuroda jumps in, "I doubt that we need them and besides we can transform in the car right-."

Arturo interrupts, "Don't transform or the van will break itself apart. I'm the calling the shots here."

Makimura interrupts him, "Really? What about the interrogation from yesterday? You overstepped my line: punish the bad guys, not the innocents."

Arturo sighs and Makimura continues, "You're lucky that you said that was a prank to get that information out of that woman. Otherwise, you'd be dead."

"OK, I admit. That was a wee bit too far. However, next time-"

"No, next time! Today, I'm calling the shots! Got it?"

"Fine," Arturo said. He parks the car adjacent to the cartel's mansion.

Arturo drinks some water and looks back to speak, "Are you ready?"

All agreed in unison, "Oorah!"

"Alright. Taro, distract them" The van's side door opens up and Taro walks out of the van to the mansion's gate. Taro walks up in front of the mansion's gate and a guard comes over to him. "¡Hey chico! ¡Lárgate! (Hey kid! Beat it!)

Taro stood still, which infuriate the guard. The guard pulls out his silver decorated pistol at him, "Dije, ¡lárgate!" (I said, beat it!) The guard then puts his hand on Taro's shoulder and Taro's head transformed into a centipede/demonized head and ate the guard's hand off. As the guard started was about scream, Arturo comes behind him and pistol-whips him at the back of the guard's head. "Good job, Taro. Now hide it."

Taro then transformed into a centipede-like monster and ate the whole body. A guard who came out of the car who happened to see the event in front of her was about to pick up her gun but Kuroda comes behind her and snapped her neck. Kuroda drags the body to the car and puts it in the trunk. Arturo waves his hand at Kuroda and Taro and picks up a pistol from the ground. He cocks it and shoots the electric lock, which opens the gate. The house sounds off the alarm and the front door of the house was beginning to open. "Now!" Akira screams. Akira begins to transform along with Makimura's family, Kuroda, and Makimura. The battle just started.

When an army of twenty heavily armed guards begins to see the monsters, they began to be scared and opened fire at them. Bullets did not harm any of these Devilmans and Akira began to cock his devilish smile at them. The army begins to scatter and he lunges towards the unlucky few in his path. He grabs four guards and throws them onto a wall. The bodies splattered on impact, creating some piece of art, which terrified the guards even more. Another four charged towards Akira but were attacked by Kuroda and Makimura's parents. One of them pulled out a knife and Kuroda, using her spider legs, punctures two guards in the chest, instantly killing them. Noel, as a Ghost Rider, uses his flames to burn one of the guards alive, while his wife Akiko grabs the guard by the neck and rips out the jugular arteries and veins. Blood splatters out and the guard dies instantly. Makimura finds a guard hiding and was about to shoot Arturo, but she rushed him and decapitates its head. Arturo pulls out a pistol and shoots three guards in the kneecap.

All three guards fall and Taro, as a centipede/demon, begins to eat and chew the three guards alive. The remaining guards quickly ran back to the house and locking the door. "Taro. Make sure no one gets out alive." Taro nods and crawls over the wall and into the house. There were screaming everywhere, guns were firing off, and blood splattering everywhere. Arturo went to Noel and Akiko, "Your son is amazing. I thank you guys for making him into a man," Akiko and Noel looked confused at me, "Sort of."

The front door opens up and there were a huge pile of ripped bodies, torn-off heads, and disemboweled bones, organs, and intestines. A guard crawls out in a pool of blood and the guard stops crawling with its back skinned off, only showing muscles and bones. Taro transformed back in his human form, waves his hand like he found a toy, "I'm done! Are you proud of me?"

"Christ," Arturo said, "Uh- Good job Taro! Akiko and Noel, you handle him. Makimura and I will look for the leaders, while Akira and Kuroda stay with you."

We all went inside and the whole place was in a mess. Bullet holes, blood, guns, and limbs were everywhere. Pieces of furniture were destroyed and at the dining room, the leader of the Templar Cartel survived. His white suit was tarnished in blood and his left arm was missing. He tried to grab his gun but Makimura breaks his right hand. He was screaming in pain, but started to laugh, "Entonces esta es la venganza de Dios." (So this is God's revenge.) Before he closed his eyes, he sees Arturo and begins to speak in perfect English, "Arturo, I knew you'd be back."

"Hello, Mario."

"I see you made an army. I thought you'd be a pussy to not do so."

"Shut up."

"Hey, you win," he laughs, "Remember the day, oh that lovely day, where I personally kidnapped you and your friends to play a game with me because you forgot to pay me something."

"Arturo, what the hell's going on?" Makimura said.

"Oh, he didn't tell you. Tsk Tsk Arturo, that's rude of you. Before he met you guys, Arturo used to work for me and helped me expand my empire."

"Is this true?" Kuroda said.

"Don't fuck with them, Arturo. You owed me money and you paid the price!"

"Shut up!"

"You got greedy so you went out and created the fucking Zetas to usurp me! But you failed and the Zetas were destroyed. So I had to kill your plan before you killed me. Because of you, you destroyed Mexico!"

"Shut up!"

Akira, Kuroda, and Makimura were angry with Arturo's revealed past. Mario said to Arturo, "Go ahead and kill me. You'll just create another problem after one ano-"

Arturo fires his gun and kills Mario. Mario drops dead on the floor with his head bleeding out. Arturo drops his pistol and goes to the backyard. Jaded, he looks down at himself and grabs a cyanide pill out of his pocket. Before he swallows it, Makimura grabs it and chucks it at the pool, "Is this true?" she said angrily.

"Arturo-san," Taro said.

Akira jumps in, "Arturo-san, why?"

Kuroda jumps in as well, but slaps Arturo in the face, "How could you? You liar!"

Arturo relents, "Yes," he does not look at her, "my shame is that I destroyed Mexico. All I wanted was to bring peace, but every time I do so, it falls apart."

"Arturo-san," Akiko says to him, "why did you-?"

"Because I wanted something done. I was tired of everything. I was so close," he looks at Makimura, "Go ahead and kill me."

"No."

"Please. Kill me! Kill me! I destroyed Mexico!"

"No!"

"But why? Aren't you going to punish evil? I am evil," Arturo sobbed, "Didn't you hear me? I destroyed Mexico!" He shakes Makimura while sobbing, "Why won't you kill me?"

"Because you changed!"

"Changed?" Arturo looked confused, "I did not change. I-"

Makimura hugs me. Arturo, confused and crying, asks, "Makimura-san, I-"

Speaking in a soothing voice, she said, "You were just another victim of chaos," she added, "I knew from the beginning you were flawed, but you had a consistent goal of liberating Mexico from chaos. But in the end, chaos engulfed you."

"Yeah," he said jadedly. Arturo kneeled down and sobbed again. Akira and Kuroda were crying, along with Makimura's parents as well. Kuroda came over to me and kissed me, "We forgive you. I forgive you."

"Kuroda, why-"

"I had the same feeling as you did when I was on the running team with Makimura. I never expressed and was bitter about her, until she forgave me. She loved me and I loved her. I want you to do the same as well what I did," she said and kissed Makimura.

"OK," Arturo sniffled. He walked over towards her and kissed Kuroda again. Her mandibles were ticklish, "Los amo mucho a todos." (I love you all so much.)

Taro interrupts, "That's great and all, but we should get the fuck out of here!"

"Taro!" Akiko and Noel yelled.

"What? I'm serious, the Special Forces are coming."

"He's right," Arturo laughed, "we should get out of here. Sígueme." (Follow me.) They walked past the bodies, burned furniture, and blood pools before heading back to the van. Arturo looks back at the wrecked mansion, "Es una hermosa vista desde aquí." (It's a beautiful view from here.)

Meanwhile, looking from the top of the apartment building next to the mansion, Satan was looking down at Arturo and his gang, "This is boring," he grabbed his walkie-talkie, "Initiate Op 40. Peace won't last long, Akira-kun. Especially you, Arturo." He points his finger like a gun at Arturo, before 'shooting' him and leaving the tower. "Judgment Day will come. And I think it'll be coming closer than you expect." Satan looks at the President of Mexico's residence, Los Pinos. He grew his white-feathered wings and flies over there, "God will not win this time."

The sun was setting and they made it back to Casa Idaho. It was 6:31 in the evening. There were people out and about in the streets, given that it was time for dinner. A van pulls up to the garage at Casa Idaho and Arturo steps out of the vehicle along with Makimura, Kuroda, Akira, Taro, Akiko, and Noel: all of them were covered in blood. However, since everybody was busy, no one bothered to look at the gang. They enter the house and were greeted by Akira's parents. "Arturo-san, how was your day," Akira's mom asked.

"Quite interesting. But I'm quite tired."

"Arturo-san, you're so cool," Taro said, "If I weren't a demon, I wish I could be like you."

He laughs and kneels down at him, "Don't. Be someone else like a doctor or something," Arturo said to Taro.

"Taro-san," Noel said, "Go clean yourself up. I'll make dinner tonight. Oh, Arturo-san," he asked, "do you like okonomiyaki?"

"What's that?"

Akira chimes in, "You don't know? Oh, it's a delicious dish! It's like a pancake size full of goodness. Meat, fried vegetables, and everything you want to put in! You'll love it."

"OK, I'll try."

"Great, Reijiro-san and Kaori-san, help me prepare the dishes."

"Akira, Makimura, change your clothes and help us when you're done," Kaori-san said

"Should I help as well?" Arturo said.

"Don't worry. You did us all a service and in return, we'll help around the house."

"Gracias. If you need me, I'll be in the bathroom."

Akira and Makimura came to the kitchen to help Akira's parents to cook okonomiyaki. Kuroda walks out sees Arturo in the bathroom, washing the blood off of his face. He finishes cleaning his face and wipes it with a towel. She knocks on the door, "Arturo."

"Sí?"

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. And slapping you."

Arturo laughs, "Well, it's nothing. Besides, I really needed it."

"Listen, we're both messed up. You with the Zetas and me with Makimura."

"That's a weird comparison, you're stating."

"Still, let's be honest with each other and around everyone. Keeping secrets will not hold up. I mean look at Akira and me. We both hid the fact we became Devilmans and it ended up destroying the world we left behind. Even Satan died. I just want you to not repeat the same mistake I did."

"I see. Kuroda-san, uh can I-" showing my sign to use the toilet.

"Oh yeah. Sure."

Arturo closes the door and expresses his love for Kuroda, "When we kissed after the reveal, your mandibles made me tickle. I felt kind of happy when we did it."

"Really?" she blushed.

"Yeah. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said in a weird manner, "I'll go help them to prepare for dinner."

"OK. See you later. Bye."

"Bye."

They finished making okonomiyaki and set up the dining table. Taro helped with the utensils, Makimura and Akira laid out the plates, and Akiko and Noel brought in the okonomiyaki. The smell of okonomiyaki filled the house with its succulent smell of fried batter, vegetables, and a sweet smell of pork. Arturo came out of the bathroom and was surprised by how good and delicious the food will be. He sat down next to Makimura and Akira and marveled at how golden and crispy the food is.

Everyone but Arturo gave thanks, "Itadakimasu."

Arturo stumbled, "Uh- Ita. Uh-dakimas?"

They clapped at him and begin to eat. Arturo took the bite and he noshed the plate: it was so good. Just as dinner was going great, the TV in the living room turned on by itself and broadcasted emergency alert. The alert blared too loud, so I stood up and turned down the sound. Suddenly, there was a siren blaring outside and people were coming outside. What the hell was going on ?

Then, the speaker said, "This is not a test. I repeat this is not a test. There has been a terrorist attack at the President's Residence at Los Pinos. The Secretary of the Interior will broadcast a statement soon after this message. Now, here is the message from the Secretary of the Interior, Luis Anaya Alfonso.

There was the secretary, covered with bloodstains. Everybody got up from the dinner table and head towards the living room. They were listening closely, while Arturo sets up subtitles for those who can't understand Spanish, "I'll set up subtitles if you don't know."

"The secretary speaks and the subtitles read, "Good evening, my fellow Mexicans. At 19:13, an attack was made on the President and his cabinet. The enemy of the state has proclaimed judgment day will come and has wrecked havoc amongst the people of Mexico. For me, I, your former Secretary of the Interior, have been sworn in as President of Mexico two minutes after the President's death and survived the assassination by this enemy of the state. As of today, I have spoken to our military leaders and decided to enact Article 29 of the Constitution. It is unfortunate that we would have to enact Article 29 but for the safety of our nation, we must do so to protect and to fight-"

Some mystic force interrupts the message. Akira says something about this phenomenon, "Wait a minute. It can't be."

"Who?" Arturo asked.

The message clears up and shows a man in a white suit with white wings on. He begins to speak, "Hello Mexico for I am your salvation."

Makimura's mouth drops, so does Akira and Kuroda. Arturo asks again, "Who is he?"

"Hello, Akira-san. It is I, Satan."


	15. Miki Kuroda Miko: Character Profile

Name: Miki Kuroda

Nickname: Miko

Backstory: A childhood friend of both Akira Fudo and Miki Makimura, she is a member of the same track team as them.

However, she had hidden feelings of jealousy and resentment against Miki Makimura due to Miki herself being the popular star athlete of the team. She even disliked her given nickname, Miko, derived from her first and last name in order to avoid confusion between her and Miki Makimura as her first name is also Miki.

Eventually, she attracted the attention of a member of Wamu's rapper gang, Kukun. However, their first date ended horribly as they decided to partake in a Sabbath Party. As a result, Kukun was killed by the formed demons and Miko was turned into a devilman.

As a result of her current state as Devilman which her talents got enhanced to superhuman levels, her obsession of surpassing Miki Makimura also increased.

Even with her personality altered thanks to the influence of the demon within her, Miko still mourned Kukun and kept his sunglasses as a memorable. Also, during the days of the demons' world war against demons, Miko confessed that although she deeply resented Miki, she still loved her.

As a result, during her last moments, Miko used her devilman powers to help Miki Makimura escape from an insane mob who is trying to kill Miki Makimura for being associated with Akira Fudo. Sadly, while escaping, she was fatally shot by the insane mob.

Miko when cornered by the mob, she killed herself in order to buy time for Miki to escape. Sadly, her efforts are in vain as Miki was caught by the mob and brutally murdered by them. Just like Miki, Miko also had her corpse desecrated via her corpse chopped into pieces and paraded around by the mob on tall stakes around the Makimuras' family house.

Just when you thought that like all of the other times, this would be the end for her. As always. However, destiny this time had other plans for her and a few chosen others.

The Ghost Rider, the infamous spirit of vengeance, knowing of the fact that despite having feelings of hatred against Miki, Miko chose to help Miki escape, an innocent and pure soul, who was trying to escape from the true guilty monsters. This makes the Ghost Rider judge Miko as innocent as her act of helping Miki escape was saw by the Rider as redemption.

Thus, the Rider had decided to resurrect Miko to be part of the Devilman army and an honorary member of the Ghost Rider army.

Once he has stitched Miko's dead body back together into a complete body, he proceeded to use his powers to summon her soul from the afterlife and made it posses her dead corpse which caused it to be reanimated. Unlike most of the deceased people that Johnny Blaze chose not to bestow the powers of the spirit of vengeance inside her, as the powers would harm the demon that gives Miko her devilman powers.

So instead, the Rider used his power to stimulate her corpse's healing factor so that the body parts would be firmly attached to their places. After that, he used his powers as a beacon to guide her soul so Miko could repossess her corpse in order to reanimate it.

Currently, she and Miki Makimura's relationship is on better terms and she is currently having a romantic relationship with Arturo.

Abilities and attacks:

Her talented running speed which she was known for when she was human got enhanced to superhuman levels.

Superhuman strength, agility and durability.

In her Devilman state, her body gains arachnid features that are similar to a spider. Miko can attack with claws during combat and has superhuman jumping ability.


	16. A New Day

"Hello, Akira-san. It is I, Satan."

"No fucking way!" Akira exclaimed.

"If you are watching this Akira-san, I hope we can meet again. After reliving through many apocalypses and failing most of them, I have finally found you and this time this will be permanent. It is a shame that you left Japan for Mexico because of your unknown ally's willingness to help. But Akira-kun, we can finally end this pain. Humans can finally submit to our rule, just the two of us along with some of my new friends," the camera moves and shows all the transformed demons. The demons showed off their transformation abilities, including human transformation. This scene bewilders Arturo and the camera moves back to Satan. "That is the end of the message. My fellow Mexicans-"

Arturo screams at the TV, "You're not a Mexican!"

"We exist and remember watch yourselves because demons are like you. Adios."

The message ends and the newly sworn-in President of Mexico look around bewildered. He then speaks, "The message you have seen is an injustice act to destroy Mexico. With regards to this Akira please side with us. It is well known that fiction became our reality ages ago, but history has shown that with cooperation good will triumph over evil. To combat this, I have decreed that every Mexican should arm and fight for Mexico. Your life is needed for our country," he stands up, "Viva Mexico!" The broadcast ends and the people outside of the house are screaming at the sky, shouting "Viva Mexico!" Arturo rushes to the window and opens the window covers: the people were holding each other's hands and seeing the national anthem. Unity for Arturo has been such a rarity that for the first time Mexico can be resurrected. He sheds tears and wipes them off.

Arturo turns off the TV and walks around the couch. "I think it's time that the two families should stay at Casa Idaho; splitting off makes it harder," he looks to Makimura, Akira, and Kuroda, do you have any friends to help us? Everyone let's get some sleep." Everyone nods in agreement and went to bed.

The next morning, there is an unsettling calm in Mexico City. Chaos hasn't erupted and there is a peace between the inhabitants and cartels, which is a surprise for the rest of Mexico. News reports reported that cartels are declaring truces or ceasefires and dedicated the fight against Satan. Even world leaders took notice and thought about helping Mexico to fend off Satan. The people on the street are carrying on but still on edge after the president and his cabinet was assassinated. Police and military are now on edge, waiting for the signal from the new president. Martial law has been in place and a curfew has been set.

Meanwhile, everyone is back in the living room, thinking about what to do next after Satan killed the Mexican President and his cabinet. The country is in shock, and so were they. They weren't Mexican citizens but felt the horror and pride in this new country. It's been less than a week and they feel like Mexicans already. "Satan is preparing for the apocalypse and bringing it to Mexico. What the fuck should we do?" Arturo screams.

Makimura speaks, "I can call the Devilman Army and Ghost Rider for help. Also, ask my mom and dad and Akira's parents, they're commanders of the Ghost Rider Army."

"Bueno. Wait what?"

"They're commanders of the Ghost Rider Army. I forgot to tell you earlier when you picked me up at the airport. Go ask them."

"Ok then. You two," he points to Akira and Kuroda, "help her. I may ask my friends up north to help me to help Makimura."

Both nodded and the three went off to the balcony to contact for help. Noel comes to Arturo, "Don't worry, my daughter will help you and your country out."

"Gracias Noel. By the way, when you, Akiko and Taro died, how did you and Taro become Ghost Riders while your wife became an Onryo and created an army at the same time? Also, your son is a mix between Ghost Rider and Devilman? I am baffled by this."

"For our transformations, we were resurrected by the Ghost Rider: he transformed me into a Ghost Rider while Akiko was turned into an Onryo. Taro, on the other hand, since he was a demon before he was converted, both genes mixed and became one, I suppose. Taro since has embraced and controlled his new power.

Arturo nods, "And the army part?"

"Right. Akira's parents and we decided to create and lead an army and we had only seven people: me, my wife, Taro, Akira's mom and dad, Kuroda, and my daughter. Over time, we grew into the hundreds or maybe thousands."

"That's quite a lot for a private army."

Reijiro nodded, "Indeed so. Our goal was to protect the innocent and punish evil all over the world. The world reacted either with hope or with fear. It doesn't matter what they think of us: we are protectors and guardians for the good and punisher of evil."

Kaori spoke, "After we were bestowed by Ghost Rider with these new powers, like Noel and Akiko, we became Ghost Rider and Onryo. We walk throughout the earth to defeat evil and bring the good to light."

"Sounds quite noble. But what did you do before you," Arturo gestured his hand towards Noel, "became leaders of the Devilman Army?"

Akiko sits down next to Noel, "Well, my husband and I used to run a vegan restaurant in Tokyo. When violence erupted, we had to close the business down."

"And you two?" gesturing his hand towards Reijiro and Kaori.

Kaori talks, "I used to be an archeologist and my husband was a history professor at Tokyo University."

"I see," he hesitated for a moment, "the four of you had a complete 180-degree turn. That's just bizarre. All you having normal jobs and now you become commanders of an army? That's fucking amazing!"

"Well," Reijiro, "After our resurrection, we decided to create the Ghost Rider Army to use it for good and to protect, not only ourselves but for everyone. Demon or not. "

"And how many members do you currently have?"

"Maybe tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands," Noel said.

Arturo opened his eyes in surprise, "Hundreds of thousands? Mierda, that's more than what the Federal Police have!"

They both nodded and Noel speaks again, "If, including the Ghost Rider Army, it may be almost a million."

Again Arturo was in shock, "Mierda. I've got to say you're quite armed."

"Thank you," Noel said, "But Arturo, didn't you say you used to create Los Zetas?"

"I didn't create them: I inherited them. After my resignation from the Federal Police, I joined the army. Four years taught me a lot and I've witnessed desertions from my fellow acquaintances that were lured by the cartels' promises and prospects. One of my friends from the army told the Zetas about me and hired me to lead. My skills from the military and advisers from up north have helped them greatly in expansion and unfortunately, the continuation of violence. I tried to lead them in a different direction, but the overlords above me said otherwise. Some wanted me dead. Fortunately, they diminished in power because of infighting and during that time I faked my own death to escape from purging and hiding my shame."

Arturo sighs, "I wanted to change direction and decided to play by their rules, but in the end, it made me a monster. I was so close," Arturo walks up to the liquor cabinet and chugs a bottle of Scotch. He painfully swallows the drink and smashes the bottle into pieces. His right hand was bleeding and continued to talk, "I don't know how many lives were lost under my watch but I should've killed myself yesterday. I brought it upon myself and I needed someone to punish me. But your daughter offered her hand and after yesterday's incident, she forgave me, which made me even more ashamed. Why God why?"

Akiko puts her hand on my shoulder, "Arturo, Miki has offered you a hand and you put your word on it: you gave us shelter, food, weapons, and intel. She said that you changed and we believed you and saw it in you. You changed yourself."

"But I blame myself for lying to you guys and destroying the country I wanted to save from."

"Yes, I understand that part of this problem is your fault but you have to accept and try something better. Try taking a different path. You tried this and it backfired. Now try something else."

Kaori jumps in, "Same for me. I blame myself for not being with Akira as a mother and I had a second chance to do better. Now I feel happier than before. So please don't be so hard on yourself."

Kaori's husband joins in, "Look, Arturo-san. These new powers have helped us to connect with our son and everyone around us. Including you. Even though you admit that you did horrible actions, you can have a second chance and do better."

"Gracias."

"My pleasure," she looks at his bloodied hand, "Uh Akiko help him."

"Alright, stick your hand up and I'll heal it," Akiko says to Arturo.

"Thanks again."

Arturo's hand instantly healed and looks at Noel, "Thanks for the talk. Now, what should we do?"

He stands up and walks towards me, "Taking down Satan will be more challenging than we thought. We're in a country where people are for themselves and now it's bringing people together for the first time. If we succeed in defeating Satan, then maybe we'll create a new legacy."

"I think so."

"Great. Now, has Miki and Akira contacted our allies?" Miki and Akira run towards the living room. They were panting and happy all of a sudden. "Good news, the Devilman Army and Ghost Rider Army are coming here!" Akira exclaimed.

Makimura speaks, "They have contacted the Mexican government about it and gave them their blessings. They have also created a new coalition: La Nueva Coalición Mundial or the New World Coalition where humans, Ghost Riders, Devilmen, Onryos, and every other mystical being are now teaming up and fighting against Satan's army. Everyone from the Americas is joining in the fight."

Arturo exclaims, "That's great news! And everyone is taking part in this?"

"Yes," Makimura said, "the coalition has been created to prepare and the government wants you to lead it. I personally referred this to you."

Arturo's smile drops and sank to the couch, "I cannot do this. I'm sorry I can't."

Akiko questions him, "Why pass up this opportunity? We had a moment."

"I'm honored but this should be left to someone who can actually be a leader. Ever since the Zetas, I vowed not to lead anyone because it ultimately led to their and my destruction. I simply cannot."

Taro comes in and screams at Arturo, "Arturo-san!"

He rushes to Arturo and hugs him, "You gave us hope and courage to take on the soldiers from yesterday. You have saved us twice days ago from the airport to this house. You have welcomed us and we welcome you. Please, I beg you, take this chance and be a hero for you and your people."

Arturo sighs and rubs Taro on the head, "Gracias. It's a big responsibility but I'll accept this. On one condition."

Makimura ask, "What's your condition?"

"If I die, never resurrect me. Bury and remember me. I don't need a memorial or something, just let me be in peace."

Akira jumps in, "Arturo, we can-"

"Nope. That's my condition. I believe that a second chance in life is a nightmare that one has to live with. I don't want to. Once you die, you have the satisfaction to know that you lived a decent life. I want to keep it this way and I hope you can respect my condition. Is that clear?"

All responded and saluted Arturo, "¡Sí, comandante!" Everyone welled up in tears and tried to hold back. Akira's mom comes in, "You're quite young to have this wish, this death wish. Are you sure about it?"

Arturo puts his hand on her shoulder, "Yes ma'am. I'm ready to pay for my sins with my life. Mexico deserves better and this one will go for the history books. I cannot be more proud that I have served you, wonderful people, very well. Vamanos, (let's go) we got a war to win."

Suddenly, a doorbell rings. Someone said outside, "¿Está, Arturo Sinclair Jung-Min Cha, en casa? (Is, Arturo Sinclair Jung-Min Cha, at home?)

Arturo responds, "Sí?"

The voice responds again, "Buenos días. Este es el nuevo Presidente, Luis Anayo Alfonso y conmigo es la Secretaria de Defensa Nacional, Ana Lupe Chambers. Estamos aquí para ayudarlo a usted y a sus amigos. (Good morning. This is the new president, Luis Anayo Alfonso and with me is the Secretary of National Defense, Ana Lupe Chambers. We are here to help you and your friends.)

Arturo opens the door and sees the president and the secretary, "Por favor, Señor Presidente."

"No, vienes con nosotros a ayudamos a crear la coalición. Y trae a sus amigos. Arturo, gracias tu amigo Makimura por ayudarnos." (No, you come with us to help create the coalition. And bring your friends. Arturo, thank your friend Makimura for helping us.)

"Gracias." They both left and Arturo signal everyone to come out of the house. Then, they were escorted to a military caravan that was taking them somewhere. He asks the President, "¿A dónde vamos ahora?"

"Campo Militar 1. Tenemos muchos reclutas." (Military Camp 1. We have a lot of recruits.)


	17. Akira's parents' character profiles

Name: Reijiro Fudo

Relationship: Akira Fudo's father

Backstory: He along with his wife spent much of Akira's childhood days as a family. From what Akira remembers him, Reijiro Fudo has been a cheerful goofball who deeply loved both his wife and son.

He was a history professor at Tokyo University. Due to his work, he was always working abroad which leaves Akira to move in with the Makimuras, a family who was friends with his wife.

However, one fateful day when he and his wife are returning to Japan to see their son, he was possessed by the sadistic turtle demon, Jinmen. When he was forcefully transformed into the turtle demon's physical form, he killed all of the passengers on the airport bus which he was on which included his own wife.

When Akira had confronted the demon which used to be his father, Akira had tried to help his father overtake the demon and regain control himself. But alas, the demon won in the end as it used it's tail to sever the upper part of it's own head to silence Reijiro.

Sadly, Akira had no choice but to kill Jinmen by punching straight through it's heart which sadly meant killing his own father.

Name: Kaori Fudo

Relationship: Akira Fudo's mother

Backstory: She along with her husband spent much of Akira's childhood days as a family. From what Akira remembers her, Kaori Fudo has been a kind and loving woman who deeply loved both her husband and son. In fact, she was the one came up with the idea of sending a pair of running shoes to Akira which was gave him the motivation to join his school's track team.

She was an archaeologist. Due to her work, she was always working abroad which leaves Akira to move in with the Makimuras, a family who she was close friends with.

Sadly, one fateful day when both she and her husband returned to Japan to see their son, her own husband was possessed by the sadistic turtle demon, Jinmen and just like all of the passengers of the airport bus that she was riding on, Kaori Fudo was murdered by her own demon possessed husband.

Her face appeared as one of the many death masks on Jinmen's shell. In fact, it was she who forced Akira to erase his hesitation to kill Jinmen as killing the demon would also kill all of the death masks that were on Jinmen's shell. Regretfully, Akira had no choice but to kill the demon which used to be his own father and as a result, all of the death masks were then killed along with Jinmen including his own mother.

Just when you thought that like all of the other times, this would be the end for both of them. As always. However, destiny this time had other plans for Mr and Mrs Fudo and a few chosen others.

The Ghost Rider, the infamous spirit of vengeance, knowing of the fact that such innocent and pure souls like them had their own life taken by the true guilty demon who took the lives of a pair of innocent and loving parents while forcing their own son to kill both of them to end their suffering, the Rider had decided to resurrect both Reijiro and Kaori into beings similar to him. Individuals who will serve as Akira Fudo's partners in their quest to defeat Satan and end the tragic cycle that has been plaguing Akira, both of them and all of their loved ones once and for all.

Once he has retrieved Reijiro's dead body and stitched back both pieces of his head back together as well as extracting Kaori Fudo's corpse from the transformed Reijiro's dead body before sealing it up, he proceeded to use his powers to summon both of their souls from the afterlife and made them posses their dead corpses which caused them to be reanimated. Not only that, Mr Blaze also bestowed the powers of the spirit of vengeance into both of them.

However, when both of them had been brought back to life by the spirit of vengeance's power, both of them had willingly made the ultimate sacrifice. Both of them had willingly cast out their innocence and embraced the powers of the spirit of vengeance so that both of them could use the full capabilities to punish the wicked and bring true justice to the world and the innocent humans living on it.

Thus, both parents were no longer the normal humans they once were. Reijiro, thanks to the powers of the spirit of vengeance, his transformed body was turned back to it's normal humanoid form due to his given powers erasing any and all remaining traces of Jinmen within him. However, he became a Ghost Rider. His wife, Kaori Fudo, was also transformed into a being similar to Johnny Blaze. She became an Onryo, a female variant of the Ghost Rider. Reijiro's new appearance as the rider is similar to that of Johnny Blaze whereas Kaori's new appearance is similar to Sadako Yamamura of the Ring movie series as well as Kayako Saeki of the Grudge movie series.

Just like Johnny Blaze, both of them are also now spirits of vengeance. Forever cursed to wander the human world in order to look for any wicked humans to punish and any loose demons to deport them back to hell.

Unlike Miki Makimura in how she deals with her current situation of becoming a spirit of vengeance, both Reijiro and Kaori accepted their current situation more easily. This was because both of them saw their current predicament as way for both of them to make up for not spending enough time with their beloved son and a second chance to be there for him as the loving parents that they should have been.

Both of them had become commanders of the Ghost Rider Army along with Miki Makimura's parents who also became spirits of vengeance.

Abilities and attacks:

Superhuman strength, agility and durability.

Reijiro Fudo has the ability to manipulate hellfire and can use his own version of the Hellfire chain to attack or kill his enemies. Kaori Fudo has the ability to heal other people's injuries of any and all kinds.

Just like the Ghost Rider, both of them also have the ability to perform their own version of the Penance Stare which the unfortunate guilty victims would feel the pain of all of the innocents that have suffered under the victim's sins in his or her lifetime.


	18. Miki's family character profiles

Name: Noel Makimura

Relationship: Miki Makimura's father and Akira Fudo's foster father

Backstory: A Japanese citizen with Caucasian origin, Noel Makimura was a devout Christian who loved his entire family. That includes Akira Fudo, the son of one of his friends who he treated as part of his family with true love and kindness.

He was the respectable and well-liked owner of a vegan restaurant in Tokyo. However, when the world war against the humans which was instigated by the demons broke out, his wife had ran away along with his son when she found out that he was possessed by a demon.

Noel made Akira promise him that if anything happens to him, Akira would always take care of his beloved daughter, Miki. When Noel finally arrived at his wife's and son's location by pinging the ringtone of his son's mobile phone but by the time, he found both of them, it was too late.

His own son was forcefully transformed into a demon resembling a cephalopod and was already devouring his own wife. When Noel realized that the demon is his own son transformed, he had a mental breakdown and tried to shoot his transformed son down. But he relented.

However, a firing squad surrounded both his transformed son and Noel in order to kill the demon that was once his own son. Noel tried to reason with them to not shoot but alas, he was shot down along with his transformed son.

Name: Akiko Makimura

Relationship: Miki Makimura's mother and Akira Fudo's foster mother

A gentle, kind and beautiful woman. She deeply loved her entire family including Akira Fudo who was the son of one of her friends who she treated as part of the family with love and kindness.

He was the respectable and well-liked owner of a vegan restaurant in Tokyo. However, when the world war against the humans which was instigated by the demons broke out, Akiko chose to ran away along with her son when she found out that he was possessed by a demon.

Akiko tried her best to help her son resist his demonic urges but alas it wasn't enough.

By the time her husband had found both of them, her own son was transformed into a cephalopod demon and Akiko herself was devoured by the demon that was once her own son.

Name: Taro Makimura

Relationship: Miki Makimura's younger brother and Akira Fudo's foster younger brother

An innocent, cheerful and curious young child. Taro Makimura is never afraid to look at any and all new things which constantly piqued his intrigue. He constantly teases his elder sister and elder brother figure but he still loves them deeply.

However, when the world war against the humans which was instigated by the demons broke out, Taro was possessed by a demon which gave him an insatiable hunger. His mother discovered his predicament when he saw him consuming an innocent dog and him apologizing for doing it out of an insane hunger for meat. She then ran away with Taro in order to help him restrain his demonic hunger.

But try as his mother might, Taro eventually succumbed to his demonic hunger and was forcefully transformed into a demon. He then ate his own mother by the time his own father found him. However, Taro was not completely taken over as he was silently crying when his father threatened to shoot him down as he was devouring his own mother.

However, when his father relented, a firing squad then surrounded both of them. Despite his father pleading for them not to shoot, both Taro and his father had been shot and killed by the firing squad.

By the time Akira as Devilman finally found all three of them, it was too late. As the firing squad continued to fire at the location, Akira had retrieved all of their corpses and then quickly flew away from the firing squad before burying all three of them on a peaceful hill with Akira mourning the losses of all three individuals as he had always seen them as another family which he was a part of whom he also loved with all of his heart.

When Akira told the news of their deaths to Miki, both of them took it really hard and cried in grief for their brutal and merciless demises.

Just when you thought that like all of the other times, this would be the end for them. As always. However, destiny this time had other plans for them and a few chosen others.

The Ghost Rider, the infamous spirit of vengeance, knowing of the fact that such an innocent and loving family like her had their own lives taken by both the true guilty people who were manipulated by Satan's actions as well as the demons, the Rider had decided to resurrect all three of them into beings similar to him. Someone who will serve as Akira Fudo's partners in their quest to defeat Satan and end the tragic cycle that has been plaguing Akira, Miki and all of their loved ones once and for all.

Once he has made sure that all of their dead bodies are in a more suitable state, for example, Noel Makimura's body is stitched back together along with any and all grievous injuries are healed by the rider's power as well as Akiko Makimura's dead body is extracted from Taro Makimura's mouth, he proceeded to use his powers to summon their souls from the afterlife and made them posses their dead corpses which caused them to be reanimated. Not only that, Mr Blaze also bestowed the powers of the spirit of vengeance into all three of them.

However, when they were all brought back to life by the spirit of vengeance's power, all three of them had willingly made the ultimate sacrifice. All of them had cast out their innocence and embraced the powers of the spirit of vengeance so that she could use the full capabilities to punish the wicked and bring true justice to the world and the innocent humans living on it.

Just like Johnny Blaze, all of them had became spirits of vengeance. Forever cursed to wander the human world in order to look for any wicked humans to punish and any loose demons to deport them back to hell.

Fortunately, all three of them had shown that despite their souls possibly tainted by the powers of the spirit of vengeance that gave them their new appearances and terrifying powers, their spirits who are always willing to treat anyone with love and kindness still existed within all three of them.

Noel Makimura became a Ghost Rider just like Johnny Blaze whereas Akiko Makimura became an Onryo just like Sadako Yamamura and Kayako Saeki. As for Taro Makimura, his current state is a special case. When he was resurrected, he had fully embraced not only his powers as a spirit of vengeance but also forced the demon that forcefully transformed him to submit to him which gave him abilities similar to a devilman. Thus, Taro Makimura became a being who is both a hybrid of a Ghost Rider and a Devilman.

Both Mr and Mrs Makimura had become commanders of the Ghost Rider Army alongside Akira's parents who also became spirits of vengeance.

Abilities and attacks:

Superhuman strength, agility and durability.

Noel Makimura now has the ability to manipulate hellfire to attack his enemies as well as use his own version of the Hellfire Chain to attack or kill his enemies. Akiko Makimura normally depends on her now superhuman physical capabilities to attack or kill her enemies but she has the ability to heal her allies with just her touch regardless of how grievous the injuries received.

Taro Makimura is a being who is a hybrid of a Ghost Rider and a Devilman. Thus, he can switch between his two forms. Not only can he use the standard abilities of a spirit of vengeance when he is in Ghost Rider form but Taro can also switch into his devilman form which gives him the ability to devour any and all enemies in a flash.

Just like the Ghost Rider, all three of them also have the ability to perform their own versions of the Penance Stare which would force any and all unfortunate guilty victim to feel all of the pain that he or she had inflicted to any and all innocents that he or she had wrongfully inflicted during his or her lifetime.


	19. Training Day

(Arturo POV) It was a thirty-minute drive from Casa Idaho to Military Camp 1. The caravan consisted of three black armored SUVs and in the front and back of the caravan was two military trucks each with a mounted machine gun and troops on board. Makimura and I were seated in the front of the military caravan with the new president and the national defense secretary while the rest were split off in the other two SUVs. I believe Akira, Akira's parents, and Kuroda were in the second SUV while Makimura's family was in the last SUV.

At first, we passed through the Nápoles neighborhood on Calle Nueva York (New York Street) and there was a crowd of people watching as the caravan passed by them. Kids, adults, grandparents, social workers, cleaners, you name them; all of them were watching our movements. There was a long line at the recruitment center, and all of the recruits are joining the fight against Satan. The truck in front of the caravan turned a sharp right at the end of the street and turned a sharp left on Calle Minería (Mining Street) before again making another sharp left to enter the viaduct. Every intersection was cordoned off for the caravan and I see police officers blocking cars and pedestrians from crossing. The first struck then sped up once we entered the viaduct; there were no cars on the viaduct, which is a great surprise for me because normally a caravan escort would still be stuck in some traffic. But this was completely extraordinary; there was no one, no car, no everything. Nada. Makimura attracted my attention, "Hey, Arturo."

I looked up at her and she continued, "This was quite unexpected of us."

"It seems so, Makimura," I said to her before looking out at the window, "this threat seems to be a worldly disastrous war in the coming weeks." I expressed anxiety to her, "I fear that we may lose and maybe humanity will be done for."

"Arturo-san. This time, it'll be different. The government here and from the Americas are forming a coalition and with the help of our kind and mystical beings, we can stop Satan for good."

"You're optimistic, aren't you?"

"Yes, so?"

"I like that," I look over to the President and talked to him, "Ah, y ¿qué pasó con Europa, Asia o incluso África? ¿Por qué las Américas?" (Oh, and what happened to Europe, Asia, or even Africa? Why the Americas?)

The president and secretary are watching us very closely and the president speaks in his accented English, "El Comandante Cha, the governments, and armed forces over there have been badly defeated. So many lives were lost; Satan and his army murdered billions. The people who survived migrated, not only here but throughout the Americas: from Canada to the US to Peru to Argentina."

"No wonder this city feels packed and heavily militarized."

"Sí, all of the governments, including ours, have signed a treaty to ease the flow of people, goods, and refugees to stabilize our situation," he looks to Makimura in sadness, "Señora Makimura, I am sorry to say that Japan is gone, but some Japanese did escape here."

"No. My condolences are to you, El Presidente, for we have brought the battle close to your home."

"It is not your fault. We expected this to happen sometime in the future. And the future is getting closer to us, minute by minute."

She replied in Spanish to the President, "Tiene razón en eso, señor president." (You're right about that, Mr. President)

He chuckles. There is some hope in the air and as we approach our destination, I see someone flying in the air. I wiped my eyes twice to see if this was happening. We approach the entrance of the military base. The gate pole lifts up and we entered the camp. I see Devilmen, ghosts, winged angels, monsters, everything here. I was thinking inside of my head, what the fuck is going on? There was a feeling of excitement, and fear in me and I hope I cannot only keep myself together but also my new friends.

The caravan suddenly stops and an armored soldier opens the door for us. The President and the secretary step out first and Makimura and I step out last. The bright sun flashed my eyes away from the dark interior of the SUV. I look over to my right and see Akira and his family, Kuroda, and Makimura's family, all of them waiting. The President waves his hand at the soldiers and tells Kuroda, Akira and his family, and Makimura's family to come up to the first SUV. He then puts on his sunglasses while they were moved next to me, "Vamanos. We are beginning recruitment."

We walked towards one of many settlements in this military camp. The center was a circular plaza with a flagpole, waving the Mexican flag in the air. Five large two-story barracks surround the pole and there were your average soldiers and a plethora of recruits from humans to non-humans. Some were demonstrating their powers in front of commanders and higher-ups: teleportation, invisibility, body transformation, and duplication. One of the captains saw the President and immediately yelled out to everyone around him; everyone from recruits to commanders stopped in place, and stand attention. They all saluted the President and he saluted back. "¡Todos! Conozcan a su nuevo comandante de La Nueva Coalición Mundial, el comandante Cha." (Everybody! Meet your new commander of The New World Coalition, commander Cha)

An army, more than a hundred soldiers, and two captains saluted me. I saluted them back. "Buenos días. Ayer, hubo un ataque en Los Pinos. Y nuestro presidente nos llamó a proteger a México del mal," (Good Morning. Yesterday, there was an attack in Los Pinos and our president called us to protect Mexico from evil.) I coughed a bit, "Estoy orgulloso de que cada uno de ustedes sirva para salvar, no solo a México, sino a todo el mundo." (And our President called us to protect Mexico from evil. I am proud that each of you is serving to save, not just Mexico but the world.)

I continued to speak, "Satanás dijo que el Día del Juicio vendría para la humanidad. Vamos a traerlo a él." (Satan said Judgment Day would come for humanity. Let's bring it to him.) I climbed up on a monument and screamed out my patriotic cry to the recruits and shook my fist in the air, all who were ready to fight, "Soldados, ¿Estás listo para luchar, morir y ganar?" (Soldiers, are you ready to fight, die and win?)

All of the recruits screamed yes. I motivated them a bit more, by putting my hand over my right ear, "¡No puedo oírte! ¿Estás listo para luchar, morir y ganar? (I can't hear you! Are you ready to fight, die and win?)

They screamed louder and longer but this time I was satisfied with the results. Besides human soldiers screaming, there were devilmen, demons, ghosts, ghouls, and every single mythical creature was screaming alongside with the humans to fight for the last stand. Some were crying, while others were waving their rifles in the air, shaking them up and down violently. Makimura crossed her arms together before saluting me with satisfaction while Akira looked at the crowd crying with tears of joy. Taro tried to join the crowd but Noel grabbed his arm before he could jump in. Akira's parents saluted me and I nodded back at them.

Then, I saw one officer running towards me, screaming ¡Comandante! ¡Comandante! ¡Comandante! I rushed towards him and he told me some horrible news. One of Satan's army is attacking the airport and the refugees and soldiers are trapped in the crossfire. I looked worried but I could not show my face to the crowd or my friends. I waved at Akira and he came towards me, "Arturo-san, what is wrong?"

"The airport in the city is under attack. Fly over there and save the people. Our sources say there are five large demons destroying and killing people. Got it?"

Akira saluted back at me, "Sí, el Comandante."

"Bueno. Let's get right to it. I'll see you soon."

I patted Akira in the back and Akira transformed into his Devilman form and flew away to the airport. All of the recruits saw him flying, and some started to transform. I rallied the crowd, "Soldados, estamos bajo ataque. El aeropuerto necesita ser guardado así que vamos." (Soldiers, we are under attack. The airport needs to be saved so let's go."

All of them screamed and half of the crowd transformed and flew, teleported, or whatever means to the airport, while humans were ordered by their colonels to get to the airport. Makimura walks towards me, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," I patted her on the back, "Tell Kuroda and others to follow me to the helicopter."

She whistled and everyone followed me to the helicopter a minute away from the rally site. It was a Chinook helicopter and the pilot quickly jumped onboard to start the engine. The helicopter whirled and we jumped on quickly. We flew up in seconds and soared over the camp and the city. The sea of red is what I saw and it was beautiful. Over the distance, we hear gunfire, explosions, and other sounds I could not describe. When we got closer to the airport, a projectile was thrown at the helicopter. The helicopter missed the projectile thrown at us and continued on. We got to our destination above and I radioed my soldiers below, "¿Qué esta pasando?" (What's going on?)

Bullets were flying as well as fireballs while one soldier radioed me, "¡Estamos bajo fuego pesado! No solo los demonios nos atacan, también los soldados humanos." (We're under heavy fire! It's not only demons attacking us, human soldiers as well.)

"Mierda. Estamos por encima de ti, así que ten cuidado con nosotros."

I looked at Kuroda, Makimura, Akira, her and his parents, and Taro. I changed my clothes into military gear and grabbed an MP5 from the weapons closet on the Chinook. I loaded ten magazines, three grenades, and two flash-bang grenades into my gear. Finally, I loaded a parachute backpack and demon facemask on my face. Makimura smiled at me knowing I paid homage to Akira's Devilman transformation. "Let's go!"

I pushed the button to open the ramp; the ramp fully opens and I jump out first saying to them to follow me. Kuroda jumped and transformed into her devilman form, Taro transformed into his form, Akira's and her parents transformed and Makimura transformed into the Onryo Runner. We are all falling in grace, like angels falling down like it was the apocalypse.


	20. As Above So Below

(Arturo POV) We jumped off the Chinook and falling down to the airport under siege. I have sent Akira to help and kill Satan's army and his human mercenary collaborators. I look over to my left and see Makimura and Akira and on my right, I see Kuroda and Taro. I flip on my back and I see Makimura and Akira's parents. All of them were transformed and ready for battle. From above, I can see all the destruction happening in front of me: from burning airplanes to flipped oil tankers to bombed out airfields, these details help to examine what was happening right now.

I grab my walkie-talkie, "OK then. We're above the airport and the refugees are trapped in Terminal 2 because the twin runways are where the battle is happening. We need to get them to Terminal 1! Kuroda!"

"Yeah?"

"Help Akira to clear the twin runways! And Taro and Makimura."

Both responded, "Yes?"

"I want you two to protect the refugees at Terminal 2 and take them to military camp across the terminal road. Noel and Akiko."

Both responded, "Yes?"

"Help our soldiers on the eastern end of the airport. Make sure no more of Satan's soldiers get out." They glided eastward of the airport.

Lastly, I talked to Kaori and Reijiro, "The two of you go to the Interjet hangers. Cut the enemy's line in the middle!"

"Got it!" both said to me. I was alone while they skydived down to their destinations on the ground. I radioed one last time, "I'll be at the airport traffic control tower. I need to retake it so don't let anyone attack me!"

All responded, "Sí, Comandante!"

I skydived to the airport traffic control tower and pulled out a parachute. I was almost on the roof of the tower before a helicopter came crashing down on me. I tried to gear toward the left, but the rotor grabbed my parachute and swung me violently. As I was being swung around, I grabbed the buckle and opened the flap to let go of my parachute. It was a risky move but I would die before the battle begun. So I lift up the flap and I was catapulted, luckily and miraculously, on the roof of the car park. I lifted myself up and checked my distance. A roof connected to the ATC tower but it was collapsing quickly. I ran towards the roof and jumped to grab it. My hand almost slipped but luckily I pulled myself up and continued to run until I barged in the collapsing wall of the tower. I radioed back while panting, "Guys, I'm in. Buena suerte, my friends."

(Makimura's POV) I landed at Terminal 2 with Taro. I looked both ways and I saw a collapsed Boeing 777 on fire and it was blocking the entrance of Terminal 2. I whistled Taro to help move the burning plane and he transformed into a centipede-like demon and ram through the 777 to make room for the entrance. He transformed back after finishing the job. "Good job Taro! Now let's go inside." I ran inside and bursts open the doors with my chain. The fire sprinklers were on when I entered and the flames that were all over my body was watered out. "Great. Just fucking great."

She and Taro walked carefully through the slightly flooded hallways of the immigration section. There was a fallen air duct and I tried to push it out, but I heard voices. I peeked through the gap and see humans taking other humans hostage. They were armed to the teeth and wore a patch behind their backs reading, "Fallen Angels." Taro looked over the small gap beneath Makimura and saw a pile of bodies and some were even chopped up. "Attention!" one soldier said, "It is a privilege of you to be part of the apocalypse that God created and to spare you from his destruction we decide to finish you off so God can't."

Taro whispered to me, "What the hell is he saying?"

"Shut up and listen."

The soldier continued, "You can be spared from the apocalypse if you can help us find and kill this man," he pulls a folded up picture and shows it to his hostages, "This man, Comandante Arturo! He's a tall Asian male with a vendetta against our fallen Lord! I know that someone in the crowd knows this person and I will kill everyone if somebody doesn't give himself or herself up. And this person is from the US. So which one are you?"

"Makimura, we have to do something!" Taro said to Makimura.

"I know but we have forty people at gunpoint!" She had an idea, "Wait here." I started to climb up the walls over the soldiers. There were six of them all holding forty people at gunpoint. There were art sculptures next to me, which gave me an idea. These art pieces were hanging by a thread and if I can move them to drop on some soldiers, then these hostages can be saved. Here we go.

I pull out a knife and cuts the string straight across and it crushes one of the six soldiers. The soldiers pointed their guns at the ceiling and there was no one up there. "Split up," one of the five soldiers left. One soldier was looking at the customs desks and the soldier had walked into my trap in front of me. There was a metallic paper airplane structure and I started to swing the art piece. Slowly I gained momentum before cutting the strings altogether and the paper plane impaled the soldier in the customs checkpoint. Two down three to go.

Taro was hiding next to the fallen air duct and climbs inside to go over the two soldiers. Once the soldiers pass, he jumps down and transforms into his Ghost Rider form: his body was on fire but his head resembled a centipede-like head with its long mandibles showing and dripping with poison. He chomped their heads with his mandibles and swung the body to the collapsed air duct. The fifth soldier saw what Taro did and before the solider opened pulled out his gun, Taro ripped his spiky mandibles and threw it at the soldier. It impaled the solider in the throat and collapse immediately. There was one soldier left and he was counting down at the hostages, "Come out or I'll kill them! Five four three two-"

Before the last soldier said one, I wrapped my arms around the soldier's head and twisted his lower half to the left and the upper half to the right. The soldier's mouth was spitting out blood and collapses on my body. His last gurgled words, "Satan is coming for you." I wipe off the blood off of my hands on the dead soldier and pick up the soldier's gun. "Everyone. Is that everyone?" All nodded at me and followed Taro and me to the arrivals. We rushed through the baggage claim and the doors to the arrivals were locked. I grabbed a trashcan and threw it at the door. It made a dent but it was good enough for Taro to fit his hand through to open the doors. "Taro, try to open the door."

He nodded and went up to the dented doors. He transformed his hands into centipede-like hands, all stick-like to get through the small gap. The hostages were confused at Taro and some were amazed by his ability. Taro finally opens the doors and I open the doors. There were Mexican Army soldiers in front of us and one had a speakerphone, "Is everyone alright?" one soldier said with a heavy accent.

"Yes we are fine," Taro said, "Our orders from Comandante Cha to transport the refugees to the military camp across the terminal."

"That is not our order!"

"Taro, what are you doing?"

"Call Comandante Cha! It's 1104!"

One soldier phoned 1104 to my friend, Arturo. We could hear Arturo's screaming and demanded the soldiers to transport the refugees to the camp. "Comandante, esas-"

"Callaté! Por orden del presidente, exijo que siga esas órdenes o un tribunal militar lo sentenciará." (By order of the president, I demand that you follow those orders or a military court will sentence you.) The captain then saluted the walkie-talkie and waved his hand at the soldiers. "¡Bien! ¡Llévalos al campo!" (Alright! Transport them to the camp!) The hostages were taken out of the airport and to be transported to the camp. One of the Mexican soldiers went up to Taro and apologizes to him for the confusion. Taro smirked with his transformed head before scaring the soldier away. "Mierda!" He looked at me, "Tell your brother not to threaten us."

"I promise. But tell everyone that Comandante Cha is in charge. Got it?"

"I got it. Don't scare me." He left in a hurry and radioed everyone that Comandante Cha is in charge of the airport operation. One of the hostages, a kid, came up to Taro and hugged him, "Gracias."

"Uh, you're welcome? What's your name- uh tu nombre?"

He speaks with a mix of English and Spanish, "Mi nombre es Marco. ¡Quiero ser como tú!" (I want to be like you!)

Taro asked the solider he scared earlier from, "What does he say?"

"He said that he wants to be like you."

He smiles back at the kid, "Marco, you'll soon be like me. Be safe and protect your parents!"

The kid went back to his parents outside of the arrivals, waving goodbye at Taro. I went up to Taro to congratulate him for saving our asses by these confused Mexican soldiers. "Thanks, Taro. Let's go help mom and dad."

He nodded happily and transformed again into his centipede-ghost rider self. Taro and I ran through the baggage claim, customs, and immigration, which led us outside. I see mom and dad battling Satan's demons and see their dad lifting an A320 with his metallic chain and throwing the plane across the runway. "Dad's quite strong," Taro said.

"Let's go and help them." We ran through the gunfire, and jumped over collapsed planes and burnt out vehicles of all sorts. I forgot what hangar my parents were and before I called Arturo Taro said, "Interjet! They're at Interjet hangars!"

"Thanks." I put my walkie-talkie back and we head to the Interjet terminal.


	21. Layover

(Makimura POV)

I saw dad grabbing a plane by its tail with his chain. Dad's face resembled like Ghost Rider but his Mexican army jacket was burning with spikes protruding from the jacket. He then screamed at the demon army in front of him and threw the plane at the Satan's army. One demon whose appearance resembled of a serpent monster tried to escape but mom quickly went up to the serpent and grabbed it by the throat before biting a significant chunk of its head. The serpentine monster screamed in pain and fell backward on two tanks. Luckily, the soldiers in the tank were able to escape from being crushed to death. The serpent monster got up quickly. Meanwhile, the nonhumans in combat were trying to mitigate the serpent's damage. One nonhuman said to us, "Hey! Ayudame!" (Help!)

My dad saw me and screamed out, "Miki-chan! Taro-kun! We got too many demons here! Help the humans out!" I saw human soldiers stuck under a downed wing from an airplane next to them. Taro and I rushed towards the humans who were stuck. Taro transformed into his demon centipede form and lifts up the wing that was crushing the soldiers. "Gracias chicos. We'll help your parents.," the soldiers said to us.

"You're welcome," Taro said.

"Hey. Tell your Comandante that we got this."

"Will do," Makimura said while pointing to her parents, "Now, help them."

All nodded and went straight into battle. The humans never give up even if their condition is in dire straits. Was it nationalism? Was it brotherhood? Or was it the need to survive? I do not know what the humans are thinking but when I was a human I was compassionate and loving yet, I admit, a bit of naivety. I felt like a tragic character, doing something great before ending up dead.

I looked up and saw a demon being decapitated from head to toe. A Mexican marine with his machete started to cut the monster up, little by little. They whacked the head off like it was cutting down a tree. Once finished, a truck hooks its hook up to the mouth of the demon and drags it across the runway. That head, that lonely head looking over the distance. Its eyes were open but droopy and rolled back; its mouth closed but smiles a bit; its head twitched a bit. I fell back a bit and hid away from the battle. Taro came up to me, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Just let me be. Go help mom and dad."

"But-"

"Help them! Leave me alone!" I pushed Taro back using my power.

Taro was surprised when I moved him and went away from me to help our parents. I put my hands over my face, hiding behind a downed airplane wing. "I'm sorry, Taro. I'm sorry." Tears were flowing over my face. The sounds of gunfire and the fires cackling over the distance were too much for me. After being resurrected, I thought I lost my original self and went on to change myself for the better. Yet the past never left me. I have been dragged down this rabbit hole by fucking Satan and everyone around me. I don't know anymore.

These things that I saw reminded me of that fateful night. I was cornered and tried to run away alas one from the mob stabbed me. I remember falling on the ground, looking above at my killers. One of Wamu's friends grabbed my left arm and sawed it like cutting a loaf of bread. The pain was excruciating and the mob started to grab and cut my limbs off one by one. As my limbs were being dismembered, I saw someone dragging Wamu's lifeless corpse over and started to shear his limbs and finally his head. Someone's fingers, using it like a bowling ball, plucked his eyeballs out and carried his head to a wooden pike. I cried and screamed at Wamu, but I knew he was dead, just like mom, dad, Taro, Kuroda, and Gabi. They waved my head with others like it was a trophy, a trophy for chaos. As I see the battle playing out, I could not fathom that day, even the day I became the Onryo Runner I cannot see people joining in some sort violence. I want this to stop but did I choose this route for justice for all or vengeance fantasy.

Arturo radios in, "Makimura! Makimura! Where the hell are you?"

"What?"

"Where the hell are you? Taro said you bailed on him."

"I'm sorry. Something happened to me. I can't explain-"

"Well, tell me later. Kuroda and Akira are almost done and I'm finishing up. Hold up," gunshots were fired as the monsters and human collaborators screamed, "Pinche culeros! (Fucking assholes!) Anyway, they called me to help them out. They captured a lot of prisoners. How's everyone?"

"They're doing fine. Taro and I finished evacuating everyone at Terminal 2. Now, we're helping our parents."

"OK then. Help them. I'll radio Kuroda and Akira after this. Buena suerte." I look around and was ready to help Taro and my parents. Someone stands behind me and grabs me by the mouth. I tried to fight to escape but I turned around and was surprised and angry at what I saw, a former friend of Akira. "You!"

"Hello. Let's talk," Satan said in his angel form. He waves his hand, which opens a portal and drags me with him. "Taro!"

Taro looks back and saw what he couldn't comprehend: Satan in the flesh and taking Makimura. He runs towards me but it was too late. I was stuck with Satan.

Kuroda (POV)

Akira and I have finished our job and we have a bunch of traitors. I transformed back into my human form and dragged one last sorry ass to the hangar where we captured any demon or human fighting for Satan. Inside the hangar, there were more than a hundred humans and less than fifty nonhumans; they were all tied up, mouth shut, and wore a neck bracelet. There were many soldiers watching over the captured. I see Akira, in his Devilman form, with three soldiers from the Mexican Army discussing what should we do with them: one was human, the other two were nonhumans. They were the few soldiers in the hangar who can speak English.

We called Arturo to help us deal with this problem. One Mexican soldier was dragging a collaborator from the group; the traitor was a young girl, screaming as her hair was pulled. She was slammed down on the floor and then a rifle was held at the back of her head. The soldier was screaming at her and then stepped on her back! She was yelling at the human on the ground, "¡Traidor!" (Traitor) I figured out that she said traitor in Spanish because it sounded similar to English but over and over again, the word was used at the collaborator. I see Arturo coming over from the tower he took over: he was all bloodied up and was holding a bejeweled pistol from a deceased cartel member days ago. He saw me, "Buenas tardes! How are you doing? Oh, and where's Akira?"

"He's right there."

"Great. So what's with these people on the floor."

"Those are the people we captured. We made them run out of ammo when we're fighting and cornered them. There are more than a hundred prisoners in our hands."

"Excellent work." He pats me in the back and looks over to see a soldier yelling someone on the floor. Then, he went up to her and asked her what's wrong. I followed him and looked at the beaten up collaborator on the floor. Then, Arturo's smile fades as she continued to talk and looks at the human on the ground. He kicks her in the teeth, which flies out all over the place. He crouches down and puts a gun to her face. I heard him say something to her in an endearing but sinister tone, "Mi niña, ¿por qué?" (My girl, why?)

Arturo lifts her up and grabs a chair for her to sit in front of the captured group. He then asks for a cardboard, a marker, and a camera. Then, he writes something for her to wear over her body, while the captured group was forced to watch and see something. Arturo finishes writing and places overheard, which read, "Ella ha hecho un acto de traición contra la patria. Deja que esto sea un ejemplo para todos ustedes." (She has done a treasonous act against the motherland. Let this be an example for all of you.) I asked him, "What's going on?"

"She's a traitor and when you deal with a traitor, you give them a message they'll take to hell."

"What did she do?"

"Besides treason, she facilitated the kidnapping of Makimura."

I was shocked, "What?"

"Yes, Miki was kidnapped by Satan when-"

Akira heard what Arturo said and rushes over in anger, "What happened to Miki?"

Arturo bluntly said, "Satan got her."

Akira was welling up in tears, "Miki. I'm sorry again," he started to cry out loud, "Miki!"

Akira pushed him and Kuroda out of the way and went up to the girl in the chair. In his demon form, he grabbed her by the neck, yelling at her. "Where's Makimura?" he screamed.

"No sé dónde está ella," she cried.

"Arturo. What did she say?"

"I don't know where she is."

He became extremely furious at the little girl and slammed her on the chair. He did not kill her but was severely injured. Her bones were already broken and started to bleed out. Akira remembered that he failed to not only save her parents, his parents, Wamu, and Gabi, but her especially after he promised her to come back. He looked at the beaten girl on the floor. One collaborator stood up, went up to the girl, and yelled at him, "Don't kill her! She's a child!"

Arturo grabs the heckler and slams him on the floor. He was yelling at the soldier before he pulled out a gun. He grabbed the back of the heckler and forces him to put a gun to his head. The man was crying with blood all over his face. "Si quieres salvarte a ti mismo, hazlo." (If you want to save yourself, do it.) The man was crying and he screamed again, "¡Hazlo, escoria!" (Do it, scum!) He couldn't pull the trigger.

Arturo grabs his gun and shoots him in the back of the head. The body faces forward. He shoots again, again, and again. The head was gone and all it showed were brain matter splattered across the floor. His leg twitched and Arturo shoots at the leg. The person next to the dead body squirmed in fear but did not move to run. The girl screamed and cried, "Papa!"

I was sickened. I could not describe what happened right now. Akira could not look at the child's eyes and see her father lying dead. He turned around and went up to me, "I'll be outside." The girl cried over the body and asked her dad to wake up. She shook the body violently to wake him up. Arturo scoffs at her, "Acepta esto. Él está muerto. (Accept this. He's dead.) She then hit Arturo in the leg and Arturo kicks her on the floor. He steps on her viciously while she cried in pain and her father. I felt a queasiness in my stomach and turned away from the little girl and Arturo.

I walked outside to reset my composure but then something happened. I had a flashback and while escaping for safety with Makimura, we were caught and they shot me. I was alive with blood spilling out and grabbed a gun to prove I was like them. I shot myself and what I saw was terrible. I saw my friend, my foe, and my love running away only to be sliced up and killed. I cried when they butchered her body up and put her parts on pikes. So was mine. Humanity was lost in my universe and we were hopeless to stop them. Even Akira admits evil triumphed over good when he was battling Satan. I went back to Arturo and Akira and I saw Arturo questioning the little girl, "Mi hija," Arturo said to the girl, "¿Cómo te llamas?"

She didn't speak. He slaps her so hard her jaw broke. She speaks in a muffled voice, "Pandora. Pandora de Ana."

He slaps her again before leaving to come to us, "I knew it." He went up to Akira and me, "Makimura met this girl at a market a week ago when I picked her up. I think we can find Makimura." He waves his hand at the two nonhuman soldiers, "Llévala a CM1." (Take her to (Campo Militar 1)) They saluted him and one of them called for a van. In a few seconds, a van pulls up and the two soldiers drag the little girl with a trail of blood, forming behind them. She was thrown into the van and was taken to the camp. Arturo sighs with his finger pinching his nose, "New plan. We got to save Makimura."

Akira speaks, "Arturo-san, why did you-"

"Beat her up? Because she is a traitor."

"She was human! A human!"

Arturo barked back, "No! She is a traitor and there's a difference. She knew about this and kidnapped our friend! Let's stick-"

"No!"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"No, she's our friend and you're just as evil as those people you tied up!"

"What did you say?" He pulls a gun up to Akira's chin. Soldiers around him pull their guns around Akira and me.

I screamed at Arturo, "Don't you dare!" I transformed into my Devilman form, "You'll only betray Makimura and her-"

"So what? We're at war! Can't you see around us? We. Are. At. Fucking. War! Rules are not applied. Humanity is at the helm!"

"At least promise Makimura one thing."

"What's that?"

"God always forgives and so will you."

There was a pause and he lowers his gun. He yells at others to lower their weapons. "Baja tus armas. Transportarlos a CM1. Ellos son útiles," (Lower your weapons. Transport them to CM1. They're useful.) The soldiers then told the captured to stand up and they're transported to the military prison camp at CM1. He looks at us, "Ahora, salvemos Makimura." (Now, let's save Makimura.)

He puts his hands on his and mine's shoulder, "Next time, I will not hesitate. Now, let's help your's and Makimura's parents. Taro must be quite worried about her." I looked back at him with anger and transformed back into my human form. Akira does the same as well. A jeep pulls up and we were transported to the eastern end of the airport. We passed by countless dead human collaborators and demons. The ground was slippery and the jeep swerved violently to keep control. He then says to us, "The road to victory starts at hell. Am I right?"

I responded, "Yeah."

Akira responded with a quieter tone, "Yeah.

What happened today? Arturo's lucky that Akira's parents weren't here; otherwise, he'd be dead. Ever since Arturo's admission of guilt, things started to change. He became more erratic but more intelligent. And yet he had the kindness and respect he gave us when we came for help. I think he needs some guidance or help. After all, this country changed him for the worst and the better.

Just like me when I went to the Sabbath party with Mayuta to hope that I'd do well for track and field. Then, along the way, I was attacked and woke up feeling powerful. And hungry. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw this spider-like demon and started to consume endless amounts of flesh around me. As I was eating, I noticed a tattoo on a hand. I carefully looked at it and dropped it in fear. The moment it said, "Butterfly," I knew I was eating my friend. I threw up and cried in shame. So this is how I became Devilman at the cost of my friend. I'm sorry Mayuta, but you'll always be in my heart and I hope we can meet so I can apologize. A white flash went over an image of Mayuta and saw that we were still in the jeep driving towards the eastern end of the airport.

Meanwhile, Akira is contemplating. I don't know what's on Akira's mind but it has to be Makimura's kidnapping. "Miki, where are you?" He asked himself. Akira then whispers to me, "Is Arturo the man we thought of to be?"

"No. If he was, we'd be dead, including him."

We rode quietly in the debris and corpses. I see Taro running up to the jeep. The jeep stops and Arturo listens, "Let me guess: Makimura is kidnapped."

"Yes! We got to find her!"

"I know. But let's get rid of Satan's goons here. Then, we'll go." Taro nodded and went straight into the battlefield. I see Akira's mom and dad fighting a demon while the soldiers on the ground continued to fire on the beast. The beast had a thousand wings and a face of Medusa. At the same time, I see Makimura's parents fighting a tree-like giant. Her dad was burning the branches on its head while her mom was cutting it down which then bled its red viscous sap all over the tarmac. Too many bodies were on the ground but the battle was almost over. A pyrrhic victory I fear. Miki, I wish you were here.


	22. Satan: Character Profile

Many humans had heard the tale of the once mighty archangel, Satan, challenging against God for the right to rule. But he lost the battle and was banished to Earth soon after.

However, during his banishment on Earth, he grew to admire the beings that were inhabiting the planet at that time. The demons. Though he did not truly love them, Satan had grew to admire their constant battle for survival as well as their abilities to absorb lifeforms in order to survive and grow stronger.

But soon, God sent his army of angels to obliterate all of the demons that were inhabiting the planet so he could remake it into a peaceful and beautiful paradise which now served as the home for mankind. Unfortunately, the essences of all of the destroyed demons managed to survive and began to regain their physical forms by possessing others.

Satan who was also obliterated also got reincarnated as a strange pale white skinned and blonde haired boy who was born in a native Peruvian village. Though his memories of being Satan were absent at that time, he had demonstrated various superhuman abilities which caused the natives to see him as an entity to be worshiped.

However, one day, the village was attacked by a military unit which massacred all of the villagers. Luckily, he managed to use his supernatural powers to flee from the soldiers and was knocked into the sea where he eventually was washed ashore at a Japanese village where he became friends with the child, Akira Fudo.

Even as a child, Satan now named Ryo Asuka showed extremely high intellect as well as great apathy. Favoring cold logic more than anything in many situations such as supporting the concept of mercy killing to those that cannot be saved.

But, as cold and ruthless as he can be, being exposed to the love and friendship of Akira Fudo caused him to show a more vulnerable side at times. In fact, this motivation was the cause of Ryo carrying out his plan to cause Akira's possession by the infamous champion of the demons, Amon, which caused Akira to become the hero, Devilman.

Despite being of the same age as Akira and Miki, Ryo's high intellect had enabled him to earn a Phd at a young age as well as teaching classes which enabled him to use his skills of manipulation to drive most of mankind into insanity out of fear and paranoia when he exposed the existence of the demons to the entire world.

After he had finally regained his memories of his true self as Satan thanks to his faithful demon assistant, Psycho Jenny, and revealed to Akira the truth about himself which caused Akira to finally cut off their friendship out of Satan's apathy at the pain and suffering that he had caused as well as masterminding all of the events.

The final battle between Akira and Satan was fierce. But alas, victory seemed to favor him as Satan had managed to kill Akira in their battle. Not realizing that he had killed Akira, he confessed to Akira that he had fallen in love with him due to being the only person who showed friendship, love and kindness to him.

However, when he did realize that he was talking to Akira's corpse, Satan genuinely became heartbroken and completely broke down crying due to feeling genuine sadness out of losing the one and only person whom he truly loved with all of his heart.

Satan along with the remains of his demon army were then obliterated as an army of God's angels bombard the Earth as he was mourning his loved one. Thus, trapping Satan in an endless time loop as a punishment by God for his plans of destroying the Earth.

But now, Satan aka Ryo Asuka had somehow appeared in the alternate universe where this story takes place. He has become an infamous figure residing in Mexico and controlling most of the nation's criminal underworld. His army of followers consist of both demons and corrupted humans.

What is his plan ? How was he resurrected ? How did he arrive in this world ?

No one knows. At least, not yet. The only thing that you readers can do is stay tuned to this story as any or all of those questions get answered in good time.


	23. Spoils of War

The gang arrived at the eastern end of the airport and all around them were pieces of debris, bodies, and demons. The runway was bloody and buildings adjacent to the battlefield were not spared from the damage. Tanks, cars, oil tankers, trucks, buses, the whole transportation was in ruins. Soldiers were hiding behind bodies of their comrades or enemies and a few were showing fear in the chaos around them. Arturo runs to those hiding in fear and screaming in support, "¡Hermano! Sigue luchando por México."

Akira and Kuroda saw him in a bright light helping a solider to overcome his fear to fight, but a while ago at the hangars proved a different story. Akira and Kuroda walked away from Arturo and hid behind a turned over oil tanker, "What happened to Arturo?" Akira asked Kuroda.

"Shit, I don't know. You tell me?"

"Ever since that raid a few days ago, he's becoming a bit more erratic."

"What do you mean 'more' erratic?"

"Listen. After we all fell asleep from the raid, I heard a noise and went to the living room. I saw him, sitting on the couch, holding a gun-"

"A gun? Was he suicidal?"

"No he's not. Anyway," Akira looked left and right hurriedly trying to hide from Arturo, "he has these papers on the coffee table and pointed his gun at them. I eavesdropped on him and heard him saying about 'sending massages to his enemies.'"

"What kind of messages?"

"That's the problem. So after he went to basement with his bottle of tequila, I went to the living room and picked up his journal. I read it and," he swallows in fear, "Arturo's not the man we believe to be."

"What did it say?"

"Something about killing by association and torture. We all know he killed people but he has a record for contract killings and would go after families, friends, and even foreigners related to his enemies. He's-" he gulped, "evil."

"Evil? Wait a minute. Didn't he admit his guilt at the raid?

"Yes but-"

"And didn't Makimura knew about his fault a while back? She even forgave him because he was repenting his sins. Akira, I don't know what's your hunch with Arturo but if he were truly evil, we wouldn't be in Mexico in the first place. Yes, he went too far on some occasions but Makimura forgave him. If Makimura trusts him, then we all trust him. Got it?"

"Kuroda, listen to me! He's not the man he is now!"

"Hey," Arturo screamed, "Where are you guys?"

"Shit!" Akira whispered. He called back to Arturo, "We're just planning for the battle!"

"OK. If you need me, I'll be on the mounted gun. Buena suerte!"

Arturo left and Akira and Kuroda finished their conversation. Kuroda said to Akira, "Listen. If you have any evidence that Arturo is evil, then I'll help. But right now, you're just paranoid. And besides he's not harming or lying to us. Let's go."

They transform into their Devilman forms and flew into the battlefield to help Taro, Akira and Makimura's parents. Akira suspected something was wrong and he might look into Arturo one more time to see if he was correct. Akira dive-bombs onto the tree-like monster that Makimura's parents were fighting at. The tree-like monster was, quite literally, at its last stand; he was on one knee trying to grab Noel and Akiko while Akira was flying all over its face.

The soldiers on the ground were fighting with guns and powers. Someone tried to use cryokinesis to freeze the tree monster's legs to the ground while one solider fired on the legs to decapitate the monster. The monster fell to the ground once the legs have been decapitated. It was crawling on the floor, screaming in pain and begging to spare itself from its painful death. His cries screamed for forgiveness from being slaughtered in a painful manner. Alas, soldiers began to gouge his eyes, cut off its "branches", and burning him alive out for sadistic pleasure. The battle was over with countless soldiers on the army side dead. Some lost their limbs, their minds, or themselves. Scores of soldiers wander aimlessly through the tarmac, sitting behind on burnt out vehicles or smoking besides the collapsed airplanes. Nonetheless, the battle was over; a pyrrhic victory it was.

Although the battle was over and plenty of soldiers killed or wounded, the survivors were cheering with their guns upwards and firing up in the air. Simultaneously, human collaborators were forced to sit and watch while the army executed or beat the traitors to death. Arturo was smiling with a cigarette in his mouth and standing on top a pile of corpses. He rappelled down to meet his friends and cackled at the sight of the battlefield, "Wonderful day isn't it?"

His humor was out-of-sync yet he bared a resemblance of madness. One battle cannot change this man, Kuroda and Akira said; nevertheless, something sparked inside of Arturo, a sign of change: a change in the wind to be exact. Akira said to Arturo, "So what should we do?

"Huh? Oh yes," he put his cigarette down and smothered it on a pool of blood, "Yes, lo siento. (I'm sorry) I'm just exhilarated that we, " he hugged Akira and Kuroda and finally to Akira and Makimura's family including Taro, "we won the day and the city and the country! Viva Mexico!"

"Can we start looking for Miki?"

"Sí, mi hermano. I'll ask my intelligence men to find her whereabouts in this city and country. Maybe abroad? Anyway, grab a beer and let's celebrate today."

"No thanks. We're fine."

"Alright. Anyway, enjoy yourselves. In the meantime, I'll talk to Makimura's parents." He whistled one of his soldiers to bring her parents to him. The soldier seeing Arturo's signal tells gently to Makimura's parents, Noel and Akiko, and escort them to meet Arturo. Noel said to him, "How can we find our daughter?"

Taro jumped in, "Yeah! I miss my sister and I'll kill anyone who touches her!"

Arturo pats Taro on the head, "Be patient my friends. I am sorry for your daughter's kidnapping and I, with the help of my army and the state, will find your daughter and bring her alive and well.

"Thank you, El Comandante," Akiko starts to cry, "It's just that- well, we abandoned her for safety when everything started to collapse. We lost our business, our son, and our sanity. I even failed to protect Taro.

Arturo gave her a hug, "I feel for you. Again, I'll find her alive and well. Since Makimura's kidnapping happened half an hour ago, this will be challenging but Satan wouldn't go far from this city. He wants a fight."

"Thank you," Akiko said. Noel and Taro hugged him, "Thank you Arturo. We'll help you so you can find my daughter."

While they were talking, Akira climbed on top a downed airplane. Sitting next to him were piles of bodies with flies surrounding the body like vultures encircling a carcass. Akira sits on top a cargo box that was crushed in the passenger section of the plane and punches the side of the airplane. He sees Kuroda in her Devilman form, drinking a bottle of beer with a bunch of soldiers, human and non-human. The soldiers were singing songs either about nostalgia or claiming who is a badass or hero of Mexico. Akira sees her and the soldiers with disgust. "Fuck! Kuroda doesn't believe me. Why doesn't she see what's inside of Arturo?"

He looks down at Arturo opposite of the downed airplane, holding a pistol in the air. Looking down at Arturo are the prisoners from the battle: all were tied up with bags over their heads and some were even jittering. The soldiers knew they were going to die but not in glory rather in humiliation. To make matters worse, the current Mexican administration ordered any arrests on family members, friends, or anybody related to the collaborators, meaning that they too would be prosecuted and maybe pay the price in jail with the collaborators. A helicopter lands on the tarmac and two soldiers are dragging a person with a bag over its head. The bagged man was handcuffed and wore a black collared shirt. Arturo greeted them with a salute of pride. Arturo yells so everyone can hear him, "Today is the day that the world will deliver justice to those who betray humanity and the world. The Government of Mexico is in charge of your punishment for crimes against the state and I am in charge of your destiny."

He whistles to bring the bagged man to him, "Your life will depend on one man. That's him," he points to the bagged man, "Justice will be swift and fair. Do not cry for you have fought bravely against us but your punishment will be brought upon to you. This," he points his index finger in the air, "is a test from God and I will be your punisher."

The soldiers were at Arturo's whim. They wept in silence and shivered with fear. Before the process began, six soldiers dropped dead. When soldiers turned the bodies over, they found a burst cyanide capsule in their mouths. Arturo comes to look at the bodies and scoffs at them, "Pity fools." He takes a huge breath and spits on them before snapping his fingers for the soldiers to take the bodies away. Arturo pulls out his pistol and looks back at the group. "Now, let's get this party started."

Arturo's demeanor and tone took Akira aback for he was contradictory when meeting him, Kuroda, Makimura, and the others. He has shown kindness and respect for them yet not for others. Humans are supposed to respect each other even if they were the enemy but how come he did not and others like him around the world? How was he the exception? Why didn't Makimura told us earlier that we were playing with despotic commander?

Shocked by Arturo's cold attitude, he grabs a tequila bottle he found on the galley trolley cart and drunk it. He wiped off the tequila on his mouth with his shoulder; disgusted by its taste, Akira continued to drink despite trying to comprehend Arturo's 'hidden' agenda. Akira went back down and regroups with his family, Makimura's parents, and Kuroda. What the hell was he going to say?

South of Mexico City is a neighborhood siting on top of a mountain. This neighborhood grew out of the congestion of the city. When the poor came for opportunities, this is what afforded them: extreme poverty. There is no safeguard, no police, nothing. Only trust keeps this community alive but to an extent. This is Quirino Mendoza, the southern barrio of Mexico City, far from chaos where the rural meets the urbanization and growth. There is a shoddily built house on top of the tallest hill in the barrio. One could look at it and presume that it's just another dwelling but to one person it is not. That person is Satan and he has a guest that won't be saved by anyone, including Akira.

Makimura wakes up and cannot see where she is, quite literally. All black and no one or nothing was here. "What the hell happened?" she asked herself. She tried to move but her hands were cuffed. She tried to use her powers but it didn't work. Something was wrong. She thought that Satan would take her to an inter-dimensional planet or his lair at hell but not this place, albeit that he does love darkness. A door swung open and a flash of light shined above her. A male figure walks into the darkness and turns on the light. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Miki Makimura."

Satan was there and Makimura was meters away from this fucker. His clothing was the same when she first met him: a crisp bowl cut boy with a white suit up to his feet. And his smile was intoxicating, subtle yet sinister. Satan had an aura of suspicion and evilness that wrought onto her and her friends from their past universe. Darkness vanished and around Makimura was tools for torture and a projector that was turned on. Satan slowly walked down the stairs, talking and moaning her existence, "I presume that death would not be the end of you. After all, killing you made Akira gave up on humanity. In the past that is."

"What the hell do you want?"

"I'll be frank with you. I want the apocalypse."

"Not going to happen dipshit." She spits on him.

He wipes his face and looks at her in disgust, "That's not nice," he grabs a plier from the table and jams it in her mouth, "Since you became the famed rather infamous Onryo Runner, I suspect that you're immune to this. Consider this an annoyance." She screams in a muffled voice as Satan plucks and crushes her molars in her mouth. Her mouth became bloodied and drooled a pool of blood on the dirt floor. Satan whistled in exhilaration, satisfied for his lust of power. "Don't worry. Your teeth will grow back."

And he was right. Her regenerative powers grew her teeth back as if it never happened. But the pain was human not immortal. Satan continued to talk, "Do you know what's Arturo's planning?"

"No, but I do know that he's going to kill you."

"I wish," he said sarcastically, "but I have something that you can't handle about Arturo."

"What's that?"

Satan grabs a folder from the table and reads it aloud, "4th of June 2017. An army tried to take over a city hall in Leon in the state of Guanajuato. Most were arrested except for one: he goes by the name Arturo Cha. Known for leaving his compatriots behind to die, most former workers of him expressed deep hatred for this man.

"So? That's just one."

"Are you sure?" He reads more files of Arturo's crimes: from attempted coups to attempted murders to bombings to torture. "He acts like he's God or something. And this is not the Arturo you know right now. This is the real Arturo."

Makimura knew that Arturo has some secrets to hide. Yes he was corrupt. Yes he was evil. Yes he was a scum. But somehow she knew that he changed. There was something in his heart she saw that no one else did. She saw sadness, tears, and desperation for death. He was self-aware of his crimes yet he was always in conflict. Sure, he did horrendous acts in the past but that was in the past. Again, he was redeeming himself in front of her, even if he doesn't express it aloud.

Satan, looking at her eyes, knew that nothing was working and looked at his watch. "Well, I got to go. I'll be back but this time, choose your enemies and friends wisely. Adios." Satan disappeared in a flash. At the same time, her handcuffs disappeared and she slowly walked upstairs to escape.

By the time she reached the front door, Makimura had a clear view of Mexico City and the destruction going on. At the bottom of the hill, she sees tanks rolling down and demolishing shanty homes and ordering inhabitants out of their homes. At the same time, smokes began to bellow: the cackling made the environment dusky.

She asked herself, "How am I going to get back to the airport?" She tried to use her power but it was fizzled due to Satan tempering her. She looked around a found a motorcycle and hotwired it. Makimura then drove off to the airport away from the destruction going on here. Is Satan right or is he playing with my mind?

Welcome to the brave new world. Welcome to the City of God.


	24. Regroup

(Makimura POV)

I drove on this motorcycle I hotwired after leaving the house on the hill. On my right are rows and blocks of brick houses, some barely hanging on while some in ruins. I see people walking away from their demolished homes, carrying belongings that they could carry. Kids were crying, parents were depressed, and the military was watching over them like they were enemies of the state. Soldiers use hooks to grapple a house from the walls and connect them to a tank: the tank then drove opposite and the house collapsed. I weaved through abandoned cars, trucks, and piles of rubble. Homes were burnt to the ground at every second house. On my right, an office building of three stories was being purged: papers were thrown out of windows along with computers, chairs, and pens. Everything that belonged there was thrown out.

I saw a checkpoint ahead of me and I pulled up. There were six soldiers armed to the teeth with their heads covered with a black ski mask. Some were looking at me suspiciously. They asked for identification and I handed mine to them. He looked at my head and card's picture. He radioed over and there was a huge screaming. He said, "Yes sir," and hands me his walkie-talkie, "it's for you."

I grabbed it and radioed over and there was a sigh of relief on the other side, "You're alive, mi amigo."

"I suppose so."

"Let's talk later. Meet me at the Zocalo. Someone is here for you."

"OK." I hung up and gave the walkie-talkie back to the soldier. The solider then asked if I needed an armed escort. I declined and the soldier opened the checkpoint for me to pass through. Going further into the city, there were more checkpoints being set up, soldiers patrolling the streets, and less people being rounded up for collaborating with Satan.

Again, I remembered something like that a while ago. Police and soldiers were patrolling and shooting on site after curfew. I remembered being out alone and walking to my house when I saw the police dragging and lynching people by the block. Indiscriminate justice they call; I see it as a loss for humanity. Same thing here but there is a sense of normalcy compared from the last place I passed by. People were minding their own businesses, the poor weren't being displaced, and life was unhindered. I continued on, waving at soldiers to let me through and seeing a unity of humans and non-humans.

The day was pleasant; 24 degrees Celsius and it felt like springtime. Sure the soldiers ruined the scenery but that was only a minute problem, yet something didn't feel right. But I felt assured that nothing was going to happen to me. Also, who was this someone who wanted to meet me? I must find out.

Weaving through forty minutes of traffic and checkpoints, I arrived at the Zocalo. This main square of Mexico City is ginormous: the black tiles on the ground are pitch black, the giant flagpole waving the Mexican flag, and the beautiful ornate churches surrounding the square. But there was no one. Not a single life form was here except a black Mercedes car in the middle of the Zocalo.

I drove my bike towards halfway and a door opens. I see Arturo coming out of the passenger side and walked counterclockwise, laid his back on the car with his arms crossed. He was smoking a cigarette as if he was waiting for me. He dropped his cigarette and opened his arms in front of me. When I was close, I turned off the engine and walked towards him. He then came over and hugged me. "¡Oh señorita! I was worried about you. Your friends and family really miss you!"

"I know. I want to say-"

He interrupted me while I spoke, "Don't apologize. That's for later." He claps his hands to rejuvenate his thoughts, "Yes. You have a special friend that I told you about."

"Do you know its name?"

"No, but he says he's your friend." He opened the backdoor of the black car and a tall man came out of the car. He wore leather cladded clothing and his face was clean cut. "Hello Makimura," he greeted me.

"Well, I'll be damned. If it isn't you, Johnny Blaze."

"That's right. Your amigo here contacted me about a demon invasion in Mexico and told me about your kidnapping. I was worried so I came here with a group of friends at the Military Camp here."

"Arturo," I asked him, "You should've told me about him."

"I want to but I thought it'd be nice to be a surprise."

"Thanks Arturo."

Johnny talks over, "Well, I suppose that we should regroup at the base now. Shall we?"

"Yes sir," Arturo said to him.

Both got into the car and drove to the military camp. I quickly followed them until we got there. Again, I'm damn happy that he's here.

~Time skip~

We got to the base and pull up on the helicopter landing pads. There were soldiers running with their guns in the back, training for the next attack. Some non-humans like demons, ghosts, or whatever are demonstrating or training their powers on the field across the helicopter pads. Flying demons flying side-by-side with fighter jets above us. It reminded me of a book I read about an American soldier in Vietnam during the war. I could feel the emotions overwhelm me, even though I was the Onryo Runner and yet I felt like a human.

Arturo and Johnny got out of the black Mercedes and I follow behind them. I could see my family, Akira and his family, and Kuroda by the helicopters waiting around. Then, Taro tugs Mom and nudges Dad to see me. They were both elated to see me. Taro came running over to me, in his hybrid form, and kissed me all over my face with his appendages. Arturo looked at Taro and I slightly disgusted by that scene, "Ew."

"Man up. This is nothing."

"Fine." He chuckled and whistled some soldiers to come over. The Ghost Rider Army was here. There were ten of them but were a small part of the large army. "Noel! Akiko! Can you command them?"

They come and take over. Noel responded, "Sure. Just protect my daughter."

"Bueno. I'll be talking to the generals over there if you need me."

Akiko said back, "Sure. Don't worry."

Noel calls me over and wants to discuss a plan to find Satan and his hidden army. He brings a map of Mexico City and the State of Mexico. (In Mexico, there are states like the US. One of the 31 states is Mexico, which surrounds the Federal District of Mexico.) He uses his finger and burns a circle around a city in the State of Mexico, Toluca. He marks the highway that leads to Toluca and talks about surrounding the city.

(Noel POV)

I circle the city of Toluca. One of my soldiers said that underneath Toluca City Hall is an underground mineral that is used to enhance Satan's army. My source said that they started to extract the mineral ten hours ago while we were battling at the airport. These fuckers are fast. I propose that we blitz the city and destroy that mineral before Satan's army can extract it all. All of my men agree and Arturo comes back that Toluca has been evacuated and we have the signal to raid Toluca. My ten generals leave and Akiko comes to my side. "Will this work?"

"Yes honey. I hope this works."

She leaves and I'm alone at the table. God, what did I get myself into? I remember opening my eyes and see across from me are my wife and Taro. In front of me were my daughter and some guy with his head on fire. Last thing I remembered was seeing Taro eating Akiko and getting shot at by the military police.

It took a while to adjust to this new body. Well, my old body but with powers. When I tried to use the chain whip, I was shocked that my whole body was turned into a flaming skeleton! I cried in pain and Ghost Rider came to me and said not to worry for the pain will be short. I saw my daughter and her determination to keep me alive, so I decided to raise an army.

I created an army of a Ghost Riders who were resurrected, like me, Akiko, and Taro, to become ghost riders. I trained them like Johnny did to Akiko and I and I'm damned sure that I will not lose anyone again like the last time. Then, I head someone said, "Dad."

"Dad." "Dad." "Dad." "Dad." "Dad!"

My mind must have blanked out and it was my daughter calling me. I looked back and her expression switched my annoyance to concerned about my health. "Are you ok?"

"Yes sweetie. I just. I just blanked out. Don't worry I'm fine now."

"Ok dad. Arturo got the caravan ready for you to Toluca." I looked around and see Akiko, Taro, Kuroda, Akira and his parents, and Arturo waiting for me to lead. Well, to tell Arturo to lead but that's it. I clapped my hands and transformed myself into the Ghost Rider. I feel the flames overwhelming me and turning my flesh into bones. Spikes come out of my shoulder and finally up to my head. Any opening flamed out and my hair was up in flames. I grabbed a metal chain from my back and grabbed the motorcycle that my daughter drove. It too transformed into a motorcycle suited for ghost riders like me. I look at Arturo and he nods at me. "Vamanos," he screamed.

The sun was starting to set and behind me were five trucks, six modified trucks with a gunner on top, and three tanks. I rode the motorcycle side by side to Arturo's truck in front of the pack. He saluted to me and we left the military camp and drove onto the highway. Off to Toluca we go.


End file.
